Untold Heroes
by Adamant39
Summary: The story of Kirito and friends is well known. But there were 10,000 people in that game. This is about a few of those untold heroes. OC mains, runs parallel to SAO season 1. COMPLETE!
1. Prologue

Disclaimer:

I only own OC's. Whoever owns SAO, it isn't me. Also i will be taking liberties with the technical aspects E.G:Classes are a thing.

Prologue:

"What kind of behaviour do you call that?" James inwardly sighed and turned to face his father, drawing up to his full height in an attempt to salvage some dignity. "I was entertaining children father." The _Mister_ Johnson glowered down at the _Master_. "Your actions may have _entertained_ the children, son, but to everyone else you, to put it bluntly, looked retarded. You sounded like you have special needs." James suppressed a groan, knowing a lack in discipline would not help his case. "I was polite. I attempted to be conversational. I acted how the son of a sir should the entire evening. Am I not allowed to drop the act when in the presence of three year olds?" His father raised an eyebrow. "Act?" This time James didn't bother to hide his groan, he was screwed no matter what after that slip up. "It cannot be an act child." Sir Johnson said, beginning his tirade. "You must become the act; remain adamant in a sea of temptation. You are MY son, and any actions you take reflect poorly on this family. If you are going to dishonour me whenever you meet another, then I suppose I must prevent that occurrence. You are grounded, for a month." "-But father-" "I WILL NOT allow you to ruin this name!" James finally found his voice. "Father how am I going to learn how to act if you don't give me the chance to practice!-" It was too late. The door to James' room had already slammed. James waited ten whole seconds before exploding, angrily pounding his fists against the wall of his room. Panting, he flopped onto his bed, wishing there was some way he could _beat_ his father, overcome the rules, just once…

Then he realised, a grin slowly spreading across his face. There was a way. And there was nothing his father could do to find out. He walked to the cupboard on one side of his bare walled room, and reached for the small touchpad he could see at the back. Keying in the password, he opened the small door behind. There was a small cubbyhole. The one place he got to control. Inside were a few drawings from his younger self. A fossil he'd once smuggled home from the beach. And a strange metal helmet, with a visor and a cord attached. A helmet also known as a nerve gear. He smiled as he plugged it in. his father's influence had helped him get a hold of the Beta (The only useful thing it had ever done). It may have been limited; with a cap at level 20, one boss, one floor, one thousand players, (most Japanese) and no real customisation. Sword art online. And now he had a chance to play the full game. He keyed a timeout alarm at 6:55, settled down on his bed, and smiled. "Link Start!"

My first Fanfic so please favourite, follow, and review fairly.

will make daily chapters if they stay around 1000 words.


	2. Chapter 1: A new world

Chapter one: A new world.

After the kaleidoscope of colours ended, James found himself on a floating platform with a view over Aincrad, the metal city floating in the sky. His attention was immediately diverted by a holographic view of himself, and prompts to change his avatar. After trying to keep it as close to his normal appearance as possible, spikey blonde hair, blue eyes, average height, he was offered a screen that hadn't been shown in the beta. Class. There was your usual tanks, soldiers, support classes that you got in every other MMO, but one thing immediately stood out and even caused a gasp. **Beast Tamer!?** The description showed relatively poor jack of all-trades base stats, but for the fact that you had a supporting familiar that could heal, tank hits, and even deal damage. But James didn't even stop to think about that. The familiar was a dragon. A DRAGON. James _loved_ dragons, he was just a little bit OBSESSED with dragons and he'd had to HIDE THAT but he didn't have to in here because "THIS GAME IS AMAZING!" he yelled aloud as he slammed his fist down on the select button. A few seconds of loading later, a small figure appeared floating in the air in front of him and James gasped again. Black scales, purple eyes, gold spikes and claws with small golden plumage on the tail tip… That was the _Starlight Model._ _The rarest one_. He decided to stop standing being mind blown and just ran forward and hugged the thing. Its scales were smooth, like a snake he'd held once on a zoo trip. (With father's friends of course.) It made the sort of squeaky noises you'd expect a baby dragon to make and it was _Warm_ , and James could _feel that,_ and he decided right then and there that virtual reality was the best invention since the cure for cancer in 2021. "Dragon." He said, grinning from ear to ear. "I name you Dylan, which I may lengthen to Dylan Damage in the future because I like bad puns." He turned back to the holographic screen, where it was asking for a name. He thought. 'James' was out of the question, that was the whole point, you didn't use your real name. Not knowing why, he thought back to his father's speech a few minutes earlier. _"You must remain adamant in a sea of temptation._ " If there was an illusion or water boss, it was gonna put a whole new meaning on that line. After all, 'Adamant' rolled off the tongue quite nicely.

A few seconds and another swirl of colour later, Adamant, with Dylan on his shoulder, emerged in the town of beginnings. One glance took in a bunch of different nationalities, and Adamant instinctively straightened his posture. He maybe hadn't enjoyed his father's lessons on etiquette, but he didn't want to go ticking people off by acting rude. Checking his surroundings, he bee lined for the weapons market. Brushing past the crowd he checked the stall, immediately finding what he was looking for and expending all his starting cash. Grinning, he equipped his new katana, and moved towards the back alleys, giving his sword a few practice swings. Dylan leapt from his perch to take a sniff at the sword, before his head snapped up and looked towards a side passage where a small figure darted out of sight. "Hey!" Adamant called out. "Chill out, I'm not gonna hurt you. I _can't_ actually, you can't take damage in towns, and you can't feel pain." Slowly, a head peeked out, followed by the body, arms and legs of a young girl. She was probably trying to put on a confident expression, but her face slowly reddening in embarrassment slightly ruined the image. "I wasn't hiding. I just… well… I don't really know how this game works." Adamant nodded. "Understandable, a tutorial wasn't programmed. There are certain guides that some of us Beta players are compiling, but it won't be distributed for a while." The girl glanced up, with a raised eyebrow. "Us?" ' _Perceptive'_ he noted. "Yes I got the Beta. The name's Adamant. I could give you a basic tour if you're really confused, miss..?" The girl smiled. "Sure! Oh, and my names Mel- Its Jade. In game at least." Adamant smiled back. "And in game, that's all you need. . . . Well except a weapon, let's get you one of those.

 _WHY yes,_ I rather like _italics,_ how can you _tell :-)_

next chapter up tomorrow. please rate fairly!


	3. Chapter 2: Weapons, How do they work?

disclaimer: I own OC's, not SAO.

Chapter 2: Weapons, how do they work?

Adamant had expected a quick and easy trip back to the weapons market, however he hadn't bargained with the fact that he had a dragon on his shoulder, and that just about all the younger players were going to find it adorable. Dylan seemed delighted at the attention he was receiving, from Jade in particular, who was scratching under his chin as they walked. "What's his name?" The girl asked, staring wide eyed as the centre of attention spouted a short waft of flame. "Dylan." Adamant said, absent minded, as he searched for the same weapon vendor he had spoken to a few minutes ago. Jade giggled. "Dylan the dragon?"

"I prefer Dylan Damage, Dragon Dealer of Destruction and Diminisher of the Darkness, but Dylan will do." He whistled for his familiar, who immediately flew back to his shoulder, and gestured towards the large rack of weapons. "I'd recommend selecting the starter pack, the little box in the corner of the rack. You get the weakest weapon of any type, a pair of health crystals, and a teleport crystal. Or be like me, and blow all your startling cash on a slightly better weapon." Jade nodded, selecting the pack and noting a set of items appear in her inventory. She eyed the weapons on the rack, while saying: "You picked a Katana right? But you sound British." Adamant chuckled. "This may be a videogame, but I'm allowed to use that type of sword without being a Japanese stereotype. I like it because it's fast and easy to parry with. Plus you can easily switch between a one and two handed grip, to swap between higher damage and speed. Don't let me sway you though, pick whichever you like. These starting weapons are cheap, so you can keep trying until you find one that suits your style." She nodded, chewing her lip, before pointing at a short thin blade. "I want that one." Adamant frowned. "The rapier?" Jade looked worried. "Is that bad?" She said, wondering if there was something wrong with the weapon. Adamant shook his head, a small smile playing about his lips as he thought about what he had learned in the Beta. "Not bad, just, well, it takes a different fighting style to normal. The average player will use a two handed weapon, or a one handed with a shield. Using a shield seriously drops your attack speed, but most players find it essential because of the defensive capabilities. With a rapier though… it's attack is quite low, you need to be incredibly quick, and capable of hitting weak points reliably. However, the speed loss with a shield makes it pretty much incompatible with one. I've only seen one other successful rapier user, some girl in a red hood, and she was a blur half the time, lightning the other. I don't know if you… What?" Coming to the end of his lecture, He noticed Jade was looking at him with her head cocked and eyes narrowed, which immediately was replaced with a flushed face and eyes directed to the ground. "Well… I…" She stuttered, trying to focus on the question rather than the thoughts: ' _why does he seems so much more relaxed when he's talking about weapons?'_ and the immediately quashed: ' _he's kinda cute like that'_ her face reddened further, and she looked back at the sword. "I don't know if I can be… lightning and all that, but… well… it's what I'm used to." _Ohhhhhhh. That's why she chose that one in particular._ "Do you attend a fencing club?" She nodded. "Any good?" she nodded again. "Then yes, you should definitely pick it." She looked up at him, surprised by the sudden change in opinion, noticing the kind but formal face back in place. "Why?"

"In SAO, you may have a health bar rather than a point tally, and the sword skills are kind of unrealistic, but you're ultimately in charge of every move you make, and you keep any muscle memory from IRL. In the Beta, the people with Real life weapon training were far more skilled than regular players, and fighting experience in here will improve your performance when you log out." Jade smiled, pleased with the idea. She stabbed down on the purchase button, and watched her new sword materialise on her hip. Then she gave him a questioning look. "Sounds great, but… what the heck are sword skills?"

Adamant widened his stance and waited while Dylan flapped around the enraged boar. It squealed, and charged as its irritant returned to its waiting master. Waiting for the last moment, Adamant darted to the side, drawing a gash across its flank with his sword. The boar's squeal rose higher as its health dropped to red, and it charged again. Grinning, Adamant ran straight towards it. Dylan, apparently in synch with its master's intentions, flew ahead and blew a waft of fire towards the boar, disorienting it, giving Adamant the perfect chance to bury his blade up to the hilt in the boar's snout. It flashed blue, and disintegrated. _Still got it._ He settled back into a more relaxed stance, and glanced back to Jade, staring on with an awed expression. He beckoned her over, and pointed at another boar a dozen metres away. "You try." Jade gave him a surprised look. "Me?" He nodded. "These things are the weakest monsters in the game. If you're gonna start anywhere, it'll be here. Dylan'll goad it towards you, you just need to dodge out of the way at the last second, and aim for its neck. The longer you leave it, the less chance it has to change course and the deeper your sword can penetrate." At her nod, Dylan took off, irritating and baiting the boar as it had before. Jade drew her rapier and adopted a classic fencing pose, narrowing her eyes. On its first pass she dodged two seconds before collision, scoring a light blow. On the next, she left it a second later, and struck deeper. The boar's health was at about 50%, but it had wised up on the third run. It jerked to the left at the last second, and threw her to the ground. Dylan flew over and dispensed a healing pulse as Adamant helped to her feet. "Sorry!" he said "Their are smart. You can't hit them the same way each time." Jade grimaced, and Adamant saw an expression she hadn't shown before. Determination. "So how do I kill it?" Adamant grinned. "Sword skills. The default for rapiers is 'piercing thrust.' Just a high power stab. Hold your rapier above your shoulder, how you would if you were about to stab something hard." She did as instructed, and her bade began to glow green. "Good. Aim for the snout, but remember: you can't move immediately after using a skill." Jade nodded, and ran towards the boar, which charged back. This time, she left it until a split second before connection and _Jumped_ upwards, stabbing down into its neck. The green energy pulsed into the skin, and the boar disintegrated. Panting, she fell back into a sitting position, smiling at the small screen before her saying 'Level Up! You are now Level: 2!' Adamant walked over, giving her a hand up. "That was impressive. Want to take a break, or keep grinding for a while?" That decision was spared her though, by a bell tolling in the distance.

And were finally going to catch up with episode one of the anime! Please give helpful reviews, next chapter, 'Threats and revelations', up tomorrow.


	4. Chapter 3: Threats and revelations

Disclaimer, I only own OC's. whoever owns SAO, its not me.

Chapter 3: Threats and revelations

 _Adamant walked over, giving Jade a hand up. "That was impressive. Want to take a break, or keep grinding for a while?" That decision was spared her though, by a bell tolling in the distance._

Jade frowned. "What's that? Some kind of event?" Adamant looked towards the town of beginnings, the apparent source of the sound. "I guess so. But nothing like this was in the Beta. I wonder-" "Eep!" Jade's sudden response was cut off as Adamant experienced a jerk, temporary blindness, then disorientation as his next view was of the main square in the town of beginnings. Looking round, he noticed Jade a few metres away, and moved towards her, pushing through the crowd of other confused players who were suddenly flashing into existence around them. Jade tried again to say something, but was again cut off by the sudden reddening of the sky, creating a dome around the courtyard. The confused crowd turned into a panicky one, and some kind of red liquid oozed from the top of the dome, gradually forming a large figure floating in the sky. " **Attention players. I welcome you to my world."**

Adamant grew more and more horrified as the Game master, Kayaba, explained the deliberate lack of a logout button, the deaths from the attempted removal of the nerve gear, and the life changing fact that dying in the game killed you IRL. By the end, Adamant concluded that this man was some kind of psychopath, but didn't see any way of stopping the GM until, no, _unless_ he beat the game. But when Kayaba mentioned a 'present' in everyone's inventory, Adamant figured that someone so intent on his mad scheme wouldn't give an insta-kill to every player, so he took out what seemed to be a mirror and looked. There was another blue flash encompassing everyone in the stadium, and when his eyes opened, instead of a different place, he seemed to be in a different crowd. "Adamant?" he heard Jade say from behind him, and turned around to see… not her. The simple brown hair and eyes were gone, instead was a girl who was, if anything, a year younger, with bleach white hair reaching almost to her waist and bright red eyes, currently squinting in confusion. Adamant frowned. "Yes, but, who's asking?" The girl's eyes flashed in annoyance. "Uh, me? Jade? The one you helped buy the rapier?" Now Adamant was just flustered. "Well, yes but…" his usually articulate words failed him, and he gestured lamely at the mirror. Still frowning, 'apparently Jade' looked down at herself, took a moment to comprehend, and gasped, her mouth widening in dawning horror, before dropping the mirror and sprinting towards the nearest exit. Adamant didn't really hear the parting words of the game master, or see the floating figure crumble. He was too busy sprinting after Jade, who had turned down a side street and was fleeing at top speed. Sending Dylan ahead, he ran as fast as possible, frustrated at his low speed stat. (He was only level 2) He twisted and turned, ultimately getting lost, if not for Dylan, and finally slowing down to catch his breath when he heard the hurried footsteps before him stop. He found her slumped in a dead end corner. And from the sound, she was crying.

She looked up, and her eyes flashed in anger. "Chasing the freak, are you?" She called out, trying to sound contemptuous and failing. Hands raised, demeanour unaggressive, Adamant took a step towards her. "That wasn't my intent. I want to help."

"With what?" Another step. "Whatever made you run from the courtyard." She gave a short bitter laugh. "The hair and eyes? Good luck; I've been that way since birth." Another step, only a few feet away now. "You think that being an albino makes you a freak?" A nod from her, then another step. "You are aware that that's racism, correct?" "OF COURSE I KNOW!" Adamant halted his half step forward, getting the feeling that she meant to say more. "We may be told at school not to bully each other because they're tall, or fat, or short. But its human nature to fear change, and accepting different people clashes with that instinct. So outsiders get shunned. When new people see me, I'm an interest, then a weirdo, then a freak. So when I see a videogame with a custom avatar, in virtual reality? I think, maybe I have a chance to fit in, be normal, socialise. But no, even in a deadly game that's taken from me." Adamant paused, re-evaluated, and decided that being calm but formal wasn't going to help. He crouched beside her and said, quietly. "But you aren't abnormal now, are you?" She looked up in confusion, and knowing he had her interest, he continued. "My father is pretty important when it comes to most things in Britain. So his son has to act the part. You get shunned by other students in class? I get private tutors. 0 friends, 0 enemies, too many 'useful acquaintances' as my dad calls them. I'm sure there are more than a couple of thousand people here with loner sop stories. But instead of hiding behind some generic avatar, they now have to accept who they are." He put a hand on her shoulder. "Here's another fact of human nature. People are usually far too consumed with their own problems to care about yours. And in here, _the freaks are now the norm_. This may sound like the advice everyone gives, but just be you. Make people identify with your personality rather than your appearance, because from what I could tell you have a pretty good one. And I know somewhere inside, your pretty proud of those eyes and that hair." She gave him a small smile. "You're doing that 'suddenly informal' thing again." He straightened. "What thing?" She giggled. "Never mind. Two questions though. First, how did you know I was proud of my eyes?" He shrugged. "You can afford the new nerve gear but not hair dye and contact lenses? A bit of a stretch." Jade thought about it, but it had never really occurred to her. "Second," She continued, "when you said 'you have a pretty good one', did you mean my personality or my appearance?" He gave her a lopsided smile and held out a hand. "Honestly? Neither is too bad." That one made her blush, but she accepted the hand. "Now let's see what we can do about being stuck in the world's most hardcore MMO, shall we?"

Yaaaay, character development... Plz review helpfully! Next chapter, 'Finding friends and grinding foes up tomorrow.


	5. Chapter 4: GFaFF part 1

Disclaimer: I only own OC's. whoever owns SAO, it's not me.

Chapter four: Grinding Foes and Finding Friends.

Jade hid in the higher boughs of a tree overlooking the clearing, and watched, tense, as a wolf pack surrounded Adamant. He simply stood there, stance wide, sword held aloft, and waited, silent. A few other wolves joined the pack, and one decided to try its luck leaping at him, but only moved a foot before taking a cut to the neck from a glowing yellow blade, disintegrating into blue shards. Even after two days of training with the 'Beater' as some called Beta players, she couldn't help but be impressed by the speed at which he executed his sword skills, and the precision with which he struck at necks, foreheads, and any other weak point. Returning to his ready stance, he simply waited, as Jade made it her job to scan the surrounding forest. They had been searching for the Alpha wolf for a few hours now. It could only be found with wolf packs, and still had a very low spawn rate. That, combined with its high speed and decision to run if too many pack members died, made it barely worth the effort to hunt. But in a game where dying is dying, staying ahead of the difficulty curve is essential, and the equipment it offered was the best on floor one. So Jade had hid. And Adamant had waited. And the moment it appeared, they were both going to drop their strongest sword skills on it. Re-scanning the edge of the clearing, she noticed something in the dark. What seemed to be glowing red eyes? She gasped, and noticed Adamant stiffen. He had seen it too. One wolf who had apparently been readying a charge stopped, and stood, head bowed, as a far larger paw slipped from the darkness… "SURPRISE!" The foot vanished, and Jade gaped at the other side of the clearing where someone with a giant sword leapt from the trees and slammed his blade into a wolf, killing it immediately. He grinned, looking incredibly pleased with himself, before someone behind him yelled. "YOU IDI-" and pandemonium broke loose. Cursing to herself and wondering _'what the heck is going on!'_ Jade leapt from the tree, impaling one wolf upon landing and rolling until she was back to back with Adamant. Not one to waste breath on confused exclamations, Adamant leapt towards the nearest wolf, hitting it with a combo so fast that its skin was 60% red gash before it exploded. Two other wolves ran towards him but were stopped by Dylan and Jade, the former (Having grown as its master levelled) wrestling one to the ground and tearing into it with claws and fangs, the latter repeatedly striking the exact same spot on her target's forehead until it collapsed. Finding herself temporarily without a target, Jade spared a glance for the strangers who had crashed the hunt, the new, smaller one wielding a khopesh was slipping past and stunning the targets, only for them to be annihilated by the larger one's great sword. Jade was temporarily impressed at the speed at which they cleaved through enemies, before remembering the opportunity she had missed because of them. She growled to herself, and vented her anger on the remaining wolves, slaying the few left standing.

The motley group barely had a chance to catch their breath before Jade's rapier was glowing and at the larger one's throat. "What the hell did you think you were DOING?" He frowned, seemingly unfazed. "You have a tiny sword." _You little-_ "Allow me to apologise for my friend here." The smaller one stepped in, with what he probably thought was a charming smile. "I'm Ben, nice to meet me, the pleasure is yours, and this is Bulltrue. He, well, isn't too bright." Bulltrue shook his head. "My sword is bigger than yours, so it makes more light when it glows. So I'm brighter that you!" _So he's that stupid._ She glared back at him. "That was _our_ prey." "I didn't see your name on them." "What kind of idiot do you need to be to see someone _silently_ hunting and run in like a freight train?" "MY KIND!" Jade made some sort of confused noise and was stopped from stabbing the imbecile there and then by Adamant's hand resting on her shoulder. He walked up, diplomatic as always, (or at least whenever he was out of combat) and addressed Ben. "Listen, as much as grinding is a good idea, we were about to catch an Alpha wolf before your interruption. We don't encounter many people, so forgive me if I'm a little out of the loop, but in the Beta? Gamers code would have said you owe us." Ben raised an eyebrow. "Owe you what? We don't have much cash, since _someone_ blew it all on pies yesterday." ("Hey those pies were amazing!" Came an indignant interjection.) Adamant shook his head. "There's a system in place for that. Debt service. When you cheat a player, or can't afford to pay them, you temporarily join their party. You get half your usual gold and exp, the other half going to them, and they get any items mobs drop you. When the debt is paid, you go on your way. Since the Alpha wolf was an opportunity, rather than a set amount of cash, we'll try and reach it the hard way, clearing the wolf den. You stay with us until we beat the Alpha. Or you could unequip all your weapons and armour and try and bait it out?" Jade could see the cogs turning inside Ben's brain. The wolf den was essentially a mini boss challenge, the next most dangerous thing to trying to clear the floor. Even at half rewards, if the group managed it, the duo would be put in a very good position for any attempts to beat the boss. Ben evidently came to the same conclusion. "We'll do it. But if my life gets put at risk, I'm teleporting out of there." He flashed Jade a smile. "I'm sure you'd be heartbroken if something tragic happened to me." Red eyes were really convenient for scary glaring, and she fixed him with one then. "The opposite. I'm sure you're a great human shield." Ben just shrugged, and turned away to accept Adamant's service request, but she still glared at his back as Bulltrue looked on in confusion. _If he just muttered_ feisty _under his breath, I will slap him so hard he falls out of Aincrad._

Sorry about the relatively short chapter, but 'Grinding foes and finding friends pt 2' is up tommorow, or at 100 views, whichever comes first :)

thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 5: GFaFF part 2

_Disclaimer: i only own OC's. Whoever owns SAO, it's not me._

100 veiws special, whooo... *baloons* *party poppers*

Chapter 5: Grinding foes and Finding Friends Pt 2

 _Ben just shrugged, and turned away to accept Adamant's service request, but Jade still glared at his back as Bulltrue looked on in confusion. 'If he just muttered feisty under his breath,' she thought, 'I will slap him so hard he falls out of Aincrad.'_

Adamant glanced behind himself to see Jade still glaring daggers at Ben, who was still smiling and looking pointedly away from her. He didn't get it. He would have gone after the Alpha wolf via the wolf-den before if he'd thought they were ready, so the turn up of tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum had only improved their situation. But even after half an hour of walking, and her apparent forgiveness of Bulltrue, Jade would not stop glaring at Ben. _'Why does she hate him so much? Does she secretly like him? It happens like that sometimes in books…..wait a minute, why do I care?'_ He shook his head, completely confused by the opposite gender, and concentrated on walking through the increasingly more different terrain of the forest.

A few minutes later, they emerged in a different clearing, with the gaping maw of a cave looming in front of them. Adamant turned to his three party members. "Alright, there shouldn't be much more than a few wolves at a time throughout the cave, but when we reach the boss room they will be stronger. Ben, Bulltrue, your job is to keep the minions off us while Jade and I kill the alpha. Got it?" At their nods, he stepped into the cave, katana rising from its scabbard, a small smile playing about his lips.

A few minutes later, they pushed through the destructible deadwood that constituted a boss door. Inside there was a larger room, and several no-longer-sleeping wolves. Towering above them, and surveying the intruders with beady red eyes, was 'White fang-pack alpha' with red symbols traced across it's back, a body the size of a horse, and two full health bars. It howled, and the pack charged the group. Adamant adopted an aggressive stance, and began ploughing through the ranks of wolves with multi hit sword skills, but was still out sped by Jade who opted for running over the backs of the charging pack. Leaping towards the alpha, she struck twice in quick succession, then leapt to the side and struck another few hits against its flank. It growled, head flashing out, only to be interrupted by Adamant, triggering a defensive skill 'repulse', knocking the gaping jaws to the side and striking its muzzle with the flat of his blade. Halfway across the room, Ben and Bulltrue were fighting almost as effectively as their party members, making up for their lower stats with impeccable teamwork, almost seeming psychic in their perfect synchrony. Ben slipped around, tripping, stunning and maiming wolves left and right, as Bulltrue kept up a running commentary on his destruction. CRASH "Sorry Bobby!" CRUNCH "Sorry Dobby!" WHAM "Sorry Nobby- wait wha-." SMASH. Dylan, not to be left out, flew around the Alpha, distracting it with spouts of flame and bites, occasionally unleashing a healing pulse on anyone who took a hit and tackling wolves that got too close to its master. The battle began to seem like a dance… the problem being that no music lasts indefinitely.

When its second health bar dropped to orange, the wolf gave a fearsome howl, and the red runes on its flank began to glow. Adamant and Jade pulled back, not wanting to be caught in the erratic movements when a boss switches to its phase two. Preparing to use a defensive skill if the Alpha made a move, he looked up to see it…. Not there anymore. He blinked confused, before Jade yelled "Ceiling!" Looking higher up this time, Adamant saw it streaking across the ceiling, glaring down at him and unleashing a howl. Adamant tried to raise his sword, but instead found himself collapsing to the floor. Grimacing, he tried to stand, couldn't, and then noticed the symbol in the corner of his field of view. _Paralysis._ Unable to move his head, he heard the Alpha ram into someone, Bulltrue by the volume of the CRASH shortly afterwards. Jade and Ben, the only two left standing, moved back to back. "Bury the hatchets?" Suggested Ben. "Only if we bury them in that thing." Jade replied. The two charged the Alpha, who apparently had to rest after its brief dash. Having to adapt his tactics on the fly, Ben could do nothing but launch stunning and weakening skills and hope Jade would capitalise on the chance. While Jane was nowhere near as in synch as Bulltrue, she managed to strike most of the points Ben had weakened. Soon however, their adversary recovered, lashing out at Ben and knocked him over. It went for his throat, but was stopped by Bulltrue (Having finally gotten up) Striking it on the jaw and pushing it backwards, but taking damage in the process. Panting, the pair was on red HP, incapable of fighting much longer. The Alpha turned its attention back to Jade, but was interrupted by a whistle from across the room. It turned to see Adamant grinning, flexing his fingers. "Well, my detention is over." He returned his hand to his katana. "Now I can play."

He and Jade attacked from either side, showing an impressive degree of strength, teamwork, and acrobatic skill. If the wolf had been real, it probably would have started regretting life choices as its health stuttered towards 0. Kicking it in the jaw, temporarily stunning it, Adamant whistled for Dylan and charged, his sword glowing a bright yellow. The Alpha whined, Dylan screeched, Adamant cried out… and after an explosion, the beast disintegrated into small shards. All panting, the group collapsed into a heap together, as each one got a pop up detailing a level up. Adamant checked the items he won and saw a powerful great sword. Glancing to the side, he saw a longing look on Bulltrue's face. Laughing, he handed over the blade, checking his other loot drops.

"Not bad out there." Said Jade, looking at Ben with newfound respect. "I guess I should apologise for the whole 'human shield' threat. But don't think that means-" Ben raised his hands. "I get it, stop flirting. Do you think I didn't see that little duet at the end?" She blushed and glanced towards Adamant, who was holding a black, musketeer style hat with a yellow feather pinned inside. Deftly, he flipped it onto his head and smiled back. "How do I look?" She squinted in mock scrutiny. "You're gonna need clothes that match." The group laughed comfortably, slowly getting up, and Ben remarked. "Still as feisty as ever." Jade stopped laughing.

Apparently, the slap dropped Ben's heath to 1 point, and could be heard from the town of beginnings.

And at 100 views, this story truly begins.

starting next chapter, 'Blind Faith' the story will be more aligned with the events in canon. Yes, over 6,000 words and we're finally going to the floor 1 boss meeting! Thanks for the support, please follow, favourite, and review with honestly, but plz no flames. Posting tommorow, as per usual.


	7. Chapter 6: Blind Faith

Disclaimer: I only own OC's. whoever owns SAO, it's not me.

Chapter 6: Blind Faith

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Jade gave Ben a questioning look as the four players moved towards an arena-like structure near the town. Ben nodded. "Positive. I told you, I'm fluent in Japanese. Besides, where else is someone gonna hold a meeting on this floor?" It had been almost a month since the release of SAO, and the party of four averaged around level ten. Ben lagging slightly at 9 (His teaming with Bulltrue usually just affording him assist exp) and Adamant leading at 11 (The Alpha wolf offering dramatic 'Last Hit' experience.) "I'm just glad someone's finally found the boss, and is doing something about it." Adamant remarked, glancing at the seats in the arena filling up with players. "I wonder how strong they all are…" "Average around level eight." The group turned to see a young girl sitting in a relaxed position at the edge of the arena, with a bow beside her, a light smile on her face, and some kind of blindfold over her eyes. "A couple of people are only at 5," She continued, "But only your party, Kirito and Asuna are around the level ten mark. Nice to meet you Adamant, the name's Serena. It's good to see someone else speaking English in this game." Adamant frowned at her. "Okay, how do you know my name and level, who are Kirito and Asuna, and why are you wearing a blindfold?" Serena stood up and smiled at him, at least, she _seemed_ to be looking at him. "To the first, my awareness is almost at max, and that is one of the passive perks. To the second, Kirito is... about 20 feet from me, higher up, probably in the starting gear from the quiet clunking, and Asuna is about ten feet from him, sounds like she's wearing a cloak." (A quick glance from Adamant confirmed her statement, to his surprise.) "And to the third, well take a look." She temporarily lifted the blindfold and squinted, as if in pain, showcasing irises clouded with cataracts, before slipping the cloth back over her eyes. "I was blind from birth. Got the game because I was curious of how VR affected my sight. Turns out it _hurts_ and is really confusing, so I stick to the blindfold." Jade laughed at that. "Well we've got David, Goliath, a combat addict," ("HEY!") "And an albino. I'm sure we have room for a blindfolded archer in the mix." Serena giggled and was about to retort when some shouts came from a man with blue hair in the centre of the arena. "Diabel, level 9." Serena muttered as they took seats, and Diabel began to talk in what was apparently Japanese. Ben translated. "Welcome Warriors, especially ones called Ben who are American and super handsome-" "BEN!" "Sorry, jees, mistake in translation. Anyway, he's thanking us for coming and…" Ben raised an eyebrow. "Says he has info on the floor one boss. Illfang the Kobold lord." Adamant listened closely as Ben detailed more information about the newly scouted boss, before being rudely shoved out of the way by a redhead in rather stupid striped tights. "Hey!" He exclaimed, clutching onto the hat he had become so attached to. The group watched as the new man began yelling animatedly at Diabel, then at the crowd. Ben paled slightly. "Not good. This new guy, Kibaou, he's dissing beta testers. Blaming them for the death of the newbies, saying they abandoned them. Bulltrue frowned. "But Adamant's a nice Beta tester. He helped us out!" The noise attracted some attention from the other players, and Adamant squirmed awkwardly, pulling his hat down to cover his features. The troublemaker was soon shot down by a man Serena identified as Agil, and the conversation moved on to the creation of teams. Jade glanced towards Serena. "You any good with that bow?" Serena grinned. "Only if they make noise, move the air, smell funny, or generally exist." Jade smiled back and sent a party invite. "Then we'd be glad to have you aboard."

The next day was spent preparing for the boss. They first made sure to get fully equipped for the raid, visiting Agil, apparently a fair merchant as well as fighter, to get properly decked out. Adamant purchased a black leather musketeer-style outfit; taking on board Jade's pestering to get something to match his hat. Jade in turn equipped an even lighter outfit, taking on _his_ advice to focus on Agility above else. Serena simply smiled, remarking that she wasn't going to get hit anytime soon, and that she could fletch her own arrows, thank you very much. Bulltrue, however, made a point of visiting Lisbeth, a blacksmith with a good reputation, to try and upgrade his affectionately named 'Bob the sword'. Retrieved from their attack on the wolf den a week ago, it was probably the best two-hander currently available, and Bulltrue was pleased to see that Lisbeth managed all three of the improvements he requested.

The shenanigans began when, upon entering the fields outside of town, Adamant turned towards Serena. "I don't want to make it seem like an entry exam, but could you show us exactly how you fight? The four of us have been working together for the last week; it would be good to know how your style could fit into ours." Serena nodded and drew her bow, seeming to focus. "Alright, but you'd better shut up. Damn passive mobs, barely make any noise…" she frowned, waited for a second, tense, then quickly drew an arrow and fired, the shaft sticking into a boar several dozen metres away, promptly causing it to explode into tiny fragments. To the surprise of the others, Serena quickly dispatched every monster in the area. The group was soon moving through the wood, now assisting Serena in her killing spree. Despite struggling amid the dense trees, checking for objects in front of her with a drawn bow was an effective tactic, and her accuracy would be 100%, if her arrows didn't sometimes end up embedded in trees rather than the wolves directly behind them. Combined with Dylan's effective healing and occasional flames, the team developed an effective method of keeping stray monsters away from the more 'tunnel vision' melee fighters, and they cleared a path through the woods with speed and efficiency.

The problem started when an arrow grazed Bulltrue's left forearm. Then one struck Jade in the side. When one came close to hitting Adamant's precious hat, he called a stop to assess the situation. Serena sighed. "It's why I tend to go solo. I can hear the monster, and notice your names, but when you get between me and a target, well, the exact boundary is hard to make out." Ben thought about it. "We could develop a system. Yell 'fire!' or something when an enemy gets between us and you." Serena nodded slowly. "That… could work. I've been trying to work on a way to improve my depth perception, but right now I could be more of a hindrance than assistance." Whoever said that eyes held all the face's expression clearly had yet to meet Serena, as the look she gave managed to show sadness and understanding, even with the blindfold. "If you think it's too dangerous to take me with you, just say so."

Adamant gave her a reassuring smile, then, realising she couldn't see, he spoke. "I'm feeling kind of determined at the moment to teach that Kibaou guy that Beta players can and do help out the others. I'm not going to just ditch someone because they might make a mistake in a boss fight, especially with lives at stake, lives one more skilled player might be able to save. I have faith in you Serena. And tomorrow, I think that we'll all be able to rely on you." Ben gave a whistle. "Damn, he's almost as good at pulling girls as me!" Causing two blushing faces and a chorus of laughter.

And with that, kirito exists in this story.

Thanks for all the support, chapter 7, Blind faith pt 2, is up tommorow. And yes, they're finally going to fight the floor one boss.

Plz favourite, follow, and review fairly!


	8. Chapter 7: Blind faith pt2

Disclaimer: I only own OC's. whoever owns SAO, it's not me.

Chapter 7: Blind Faith Pt 2

 _Serena's look managed to show understanding, even with the blindfold. "If you think it's too dangerous to take me with you, just say so." Adamant gave her a reassuring smile. "I have faith in you Serena. And I think tomorrow, we'll all be able to rely on you."_

Serena tried to breathe regularly as the raid group of around 50 players marched towards the Boss room. It wasn't that she was nervous of dying, far from it, from what Adamant had told her about the Beta, they should have more than enough players, but… She recalled yesterday, her arrow wounding Jade in the side. If someone died because of her actions… she didn't know if she could live with herself. She felt a hand on her shoulder, probably Ben's by the shape, which surprised her. He seemed to be the one to lighten the mood with a joke, rather than with a comforting gesture. She shot a smile in the general direction of his username, visible without having to resort to her awareness skills now they shared a party. The throng of players around her stopped moving and she braced herself. This was going to be hard…

Adamant looked on as the raid leader, Diabel, struck his sword into the ground and said something in Japanese that was probably pretty inspirational. As the doors opened, Adamant drew his katana, looked back at his team, and smiled at them all, noting their apparent determination. "Anyone got anything to say?" "I'm hungry." "I think that girl at the front is checking me out." "I think this party is full of idiots." Adamant sighed. "Why did I expect anything else…. Alright then. Let's beat the first percent of this game." With a cry, he led the party into the room. The black glass covering the walls and floor turned multi-coloured (For some reason) as Ill fang the Kobold lord leapt from his throne. While half the Parties moved towards the boss and began their attack, Adamant led his party against the Kobold sentinels. Adamant started with a powerful sword skill, leaping past and dragging his Katana through chest of a sentinel, immediately followed by Jade, launching a rapid flurry of thrusts into the sentinel's midsection. Not pausing to wait, he leapt for another sentinel, overpowering it with a flurry of strokes and leaping over its head, calling "Fire!", noticing the almost immediate effect of an arrow sprouting from the skull of his adversary. Beside him, he noticed Ben and Bulltrue keeping up their impeccable teamwork as Ben expertly hooked a sentinel's sword away and ducking as Bulltrue thrust his sword _through_ their target's shield, impaling it. Dylan, not one to be left out, circled the battlefield, burning any minions that were troubling the players and healing those who took too much damage, making the party's healing items largely irrelevant. Burying his sword up to the hilt in another target, Adamant glanced around to judge the raid's progress overall. The Boss health had dropped almost by half, and Adamant was impressed with the organisational skills Diabel was showing. The only other players who seemed to be standing out were the people Serena had pointed out in the crowds: Kirito and Asuna. The pair were remarkably powerful, often one or two hit killing the sentinels. Though a battle with lives on the line can hardly be considered monotonous, the boss fight had yet to do anything that was unpredictable, and up to that point, there had been no casualties. As the Boss' health ticked into the red zone, it stumbled, dropping its sword and shield and falling into a near crouch. Expecting a team rush, Adamant was surprised when Diabel, leading from the rear up to that point, gave a shout, and single handedly charged the Kobold lord. _Understandable._ Adamant thought to himself. _He wants the last hit bonus. Makes sense I guess, he knows it's going to pull out a talwar-_ The Boss reached behind it and pulled out a nodachi. _Well fantastic-_ "Look out!" He called, hearing Kirito make a similar shout in Japanese. It was too late. Il Fang leapt into the air, coming down with a crash in front of Diabel, launching into the air, and striking him with a multi-hit sword skill that sent him crashing into a pillar. Adamant swore, realising that most of the players were stunned, either by the Boss' attack or by disbelief of the sudden ferocity Diabel had been subjected to. Only one thing for it then. "Serena! Dylan! Keep it off the other players! Ben! When I say, sweep its leg! Bulltrue! I need you to match his sword strikes with yours!" He turned to Jade. "You with me on this?" She nodded, grinning. "Where else would I be?" The two charged the boss.

Serena rapid fired three arrows at her target, all being set alight by Dylan at the last second for a damage boost. It snarled and brought its huge blade down towards the charging pair, but was interrupted by Dylan, expending a 'Heavy strike' Sword skill against the falling blade, knocking it backwards, stumbling further when Ben slashed at one of its stubby legs. Adamant leapt up, striking at the Boss' belly, but it wasn't willing to give up yet, as it snarled and struck Adamant with a sickening crunch. He flew halfway across the room, and was almost beside Serena when he skidded to a stop. The archer ran towards him and helped him stand, noting his low HP. "Don't try that again you idiot you might die! You don't have to be a hero." He gave her a wry smile. "You're almost right. I don't have to be the _only_ hero." He whistled in the direction of the 'Kirito' who he had noticed before. Seeing him look up from the shards that once were Diabel, he made gestures that were standard in the Beta he was almost certain Kirito had participated in. _we charge, friend cover, you up-strike_. Kirito nodded, and Adamant turned back to Serena. "I need you to fire over our heads, keep him unbalanced, and preferably get some shafts stuck in him we can use as footholds-" "But I-" "We Need You Serena. I believe you can pull this off. You need to believe too, alright?" Serena couldn't help but be impressed by the confidence Adamant showed on the battlefield, even blind, she could tell from his tone of voice. She gave a firm nod. "Then let's do this." Signalling right to Kirito, then left to Jade, Adamant once again charged the Boss. The rest of the raid group had broken out of their reverie, but were being held back by the Boss' AOE attacks. It snarled and raised its blade, but was stopped by an arrow apparently sprouted from its hand. After hearing a battle cry from behind him, several, now glowing shafts flew past Adamant and embedded into the Boss' chest. Coming within range, Adamant charged up a sword skill 'Confirmation Cut' a move that hit harder when used with an allies attack, and, with Jade, ploughed through the Boss' sword arm, breaking the limb off entirely and causing it to disintegrate in the air. Leaping to the side, he saw Kirito launch a 'vertical strike' straight up the belly of the maimed boss, stepping on and breaking Serena's arrows, and blasting Ill Fang the Kobold Lord into fragments.

As the dust settled and people began cheering at the substantial loot they had received, Adamant collapsed into a heap, an action soon mirrored by the rest of his party. "You know…" Said Jade. "You could probably challenge that ''Kirito' over ownership of the last hit bonus. We all saw you put in most of the work." Adamant shrugged. "Early on, the unique boss drops are usually more accessories than powerful equipment. stuff to set apart the special players. Let him have his defining trinket, I've already got mine." He straightened his hat, smiling as Kirito equipped a black coat, and turning to Serena. "Nice accuracy there, by the way. I knew you could pull it off." Serena shrugged, blushing. "It was weird, like I could tell how far things were from how quickly the noises reached me." She frowned. "It's odd. Echolocation shouldn't be available until level 20…" Ben, who had been surprisingly quiet until that point, looked up with a gleam in his eye. "I suppose you could say that Adamant had… _Blind_ Faith! Eh? No? Anyone?" Bulltrue frowned. "Ben. I could think of better that that. And my funniest joke involved a chicken and a road." The group exploded into laughter.

The companionable silence was broken by a shout from across the room. They turned to see it was the Kibaou character from before. Ben groaned. "The ginger's ticked off again. He's blaming Kirito for Diabel's death, and Beta testers for deaths in general." Suddenly, Kirito began to speak, and Ben's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Kirito is arguing back. He says the Boss fought differently to in the Beta, and that Diabel was a 'Beater' too. He admits that he acted kind of selfishly, but that there are some beta testers who do help people, who have helped to save lives." Ben turned back to Adamant. "He's using you as an example by the way." Many members of the crowd were now staring at Adamant in newfound respect. "He says" Ben continued. "That he saw you this last month and in the Beta. Showing newbies the ropes, or donating col to the kid's home. He says that it's people like you and Diabel that are going to get us out of this game. People who don't just know how to fight, but are willing to teach. People who will search to find a profitable dungeon, and share it with the world. And people who will stand up and do what they can, because there may not be others willing to do the same." Somehow, clapping had started, and Adamant blushed, pulling his hat down. He knew Kirito was probably overreacting to make a point, but he wasn't used to so much attention, even at his father's parties. He sighed, turned to his friends, and clapped his hands together. "Right then. Now we've developed a reputation, we should probably be the first to the next floor. Any objections?" with no other words said, the team walked up a staircase, and through the gateway to the rest of the world.

Note: re uploaded due to dodgy format. sorry everybody!

Yes, Kirito's speech is different than in Canon. When in canon he could only be a scapegoat to take the blame instead of beta players, in here he can point to Adamant and say 'He is a beta player, and he is a good guy.'

next chapter; Stranger raid, up tommorow, but may be early/late due to a holiday.


	9. Chapter 8: Stranger raid

DISCLAIMER: i only own OC's. whoever owns SAO, its not me.

Chapter 8: The Stranger Raid

"HYAAAH!" Adamant drew his sword upwards and smashed Jade's guard up, following with a series of quick slashes that she barely managed to avoid. Leaping backwards, she took a split second to compose herself before dashing back in; Adamant managing to turn away her lightning fast slashes with serious difficulty. Their swords clashed in between them, and fearing his higher strength stat, she pushed his blade down and to the left, spinning in the hopes of catching him out because of his lower speed- And something heavy connected with her face, sending her sprawling and dropping her health bar to below half. –Winner Adamant- She looked up to see him crouched beside her and smiling, holding out his hand. "Not bad there." He said, helping her up, "But you need to learn to think outside the box. A lizard warrior isn't going to care about your honourable fencing rules." "You kicked me in the _Face!"_ "Yes, on second thought that was quite rude."

Adamant knew that Ben was seriously competitive, and he was surprised it had taken until floor four for him to suggest a tournament to see who was the strongest in their party. So far, Serena had beaten Jade, (her skinny rapier insufficient to block an arrow from ten metres) Adamant had beaten Serena, and now Adamant had beaten Jade. Ben and Bulltrue however, were still fighting. And had been for the last 20 minutes. And showed no signs of stopping. Sighing, Adamant walked over to where the pair was furiously trading blows and slammed his sword down in between them. "Enough already, you may as well call it a tie." Both threw down their weapons and turned on the interruption yelling: "It's not fair when he knows every move I'm gonna make!" Simultaneously. "How are we going to find the best in the guild if we don't know how two members measure up to each other?" Yelled Ben, alone this time. Adamant sighed again. "We aren't a guild yet, remember? You know, because we're skint? Broke? Spent everything on weapon upgrades?" Serena, who had been watching everything, well, serenely, until that point, spoke up. "We need 10,000 Col, right? So how about instead of fighting each other, you fight everything else! Whoever makes the money first wins, the loser has to give whatever they earned to the winner for personal use. Sound fair?" The two thought about it for a moment, then smiled and looked at each other. "Deal!" Jade giggled slightly. The term 'opposites attract' had never been as true as it was between the pair.

 _"_ _Are you sure about this_?" Ben asked. Argo the rat, the most infamous information broker in the game, giggled. _"When half the NPC's in the game say the same thing, it's about as confirmed as it gets. At noon today, anyone touching an oak tree gets teleported into a random dungeon somewhere on this floor. Your avatar is disguised, your voice comes out as a monotone, and no-one knows who anyone is, but the rewards are far above what you usually get. Everyone's calling it the stranger raid."_ Ben smiled to himself. "That ought to get me 10,000 Col…." Argo pouted. " _Can't you mutter to yourself in Japanese? I can't get any secrets from you if they're in English._ " Ben chucked to himself and walked off. "Funnily enough," He said, mostly to himself. "I don't mind having something you don't have…"

"Stupid Bug!" Bulltrue yelled as he slammed a sword skill into the beetle-like monster, blowing it into fragments. He sighed and leaned against a nearby oak as the town bell began to toll twelve. _It's_ _surprisingly hard to fight these monsters without Ben keeping them still…_ Suddenly, the tree behind him began to glow. Surprised, he barely had time to move before his vision whited out.

When his eyes began to work again, he noticed that he was in a room filled with identical people with black robes and no faces. He grimaced, reaching for his sword. "What is going on…?" One of the people turned to him. "Let me guess. You just happened to be touching a tree when it started glowing?" Nodding, Bulltrue couldn't help but think that he sounded like the Siri person hiding in his mum's old phone. "Well then, you're in an event where no-one knows who anyone is, but you have to clear a dungeon together to get lots of money. Now then, if we're going to get anywhere, could you smash that sword into the floor please?"

Ben turned to the group at large as some unfortunate tree-hugger behind him brought his sword down with a crash, realising that a dozen faceless players staring at you is a kinda scary situation. " _Attention everyone!"_ He called out, wondering what his monotone robot voice sounded like in Japanese. " _I won't pretend to be your leader, so I can't give you orders, but I, personally, am here to get lots of money, and if you are too, you may want to follow me."_ Turning, he strode through the hallway.

"So why did you join this?" Said Bulltrue conversationally, as he split a stone golem in two. The stranger shrugged. "I need money to prove a point." He replied, literally dis _ARM_ ing a golem of his own with a khopesh. "There's an idiot in my party, I think he's an _actual_ caveman. Always 'Me punch dog, dog die. Me awesome!'" Bulltrue chuckled; glad _he_ didn't have to put up with that kind of person.

"What about you?" Ben continued, "Any Morons in your party?" The stranger he was talking to laughed, a pretty awkward sound through whatever was regulating their voices. "There's this one person, right, he thinks he's so cool, always chatting down ladies, or is it chatting up? Anyway, it's kind of funny, and the girls are always laughing behind his back, but he just has no idea!" Ben smiled, even though he knew no one could see it. _Whoever this guy in his party is, he needs some lessons from me_.

Reaching the boss door, Bulltrue looked back at the khopesh wielding stranger. "Any plans for the Boss?" "How about, I stun it, and then you go in for the smack. Sound good?" Bulltrue nodded, hoping that at least head movement could be noticed through the altered avatars. "Yeah, sounds good. I use that kind of tactic in my party too!" They pushed through the door, leading the rest of the faceless players. Inside were two large figures, blood red, looking like malformed children, (if children were 5 metres tall) and apparently bound together by some kind of cord. The title said 'Gemini- Twin Souls.' Bulltrue raised his sword as the stranger remarked "Well, that's the most overused Boss type ever." The vaguely humanoid bosses unclenched their fists to reveal claws, and leapt towards the group. Shield users took it upon themselves to block the scrapes as the others discharged sword skills against the spindly legs. Grinning, Bulltrue ran forwards as the stranger hooked out the leg of one of the twins, allowing Bulltrue to crunch his blade against its head. Roaring, it lashed out towards its aggressor, but was restricted by the cord connecting it to its twin, causing them both to stagger. Bulltrue noticed simply in pity how poorly the bosses worked together, before realising: "Pull them in two different directions!" The order was relayed in Japanese by the khopesh stranger, and soon there were two separate groups attacking the monsters, meaning neither could move. It was an effective strategy, and worked until the bosses reached their last health bar. Then, they let out a groan, and the cord split, the now separate bosses glowing with a damage buff. After that, pandemonium broke loose.

Ben ran around in confusion as the anonymous army fought with two giants. The monsters continued to take damage, but he knew that it wouldn't be long before someone died. Spotting the great sword wielder, he ran over and thumped him on the shoulder. Yelling "FOLLOW ME!" He sprinted towards the closest beast. Reaching it, he activated the 'low sweep' sword skill and swept the creatures leg and then, acting by instinct, swung at its arm. The great sword wielder, a mere second behind, ran up and removed the monster's other leg, before leaping up, past only one writhing claw, (Due to Ben's intervention) and struck, removing it's head.

Calling to the stunned half dozen players, Bulltrue followed the khopesh wielder towards the remaining boss, and, seeing him leap up and hook the beasts head, he jumped too. As gravity pulled down the giant, he charged his strongest sword skill and rammed his great sword through its chest.

As both bosses disintegrated, Bulltrue collapsed onto the floor, an action mirrored by the khopesh stranger, who muttered. "I suppose those twins weren't a match for siaMEse, huh?" Bulltrue stared at the not-so-stranger in shock. "BEN?" "Uhhh, yeah? How do you know?" "Only one person could tell such a terrible joke." "….. Bulltrue?" "Yup." "So when you said-" "That meant…" The silence lasted for about five seconds, before the two old friends burst into fits of uncontrollable laughter.

About an hour later, Ben and Bulltrue met up with the others in the guild hall in floor four's town. They were both grinning. Adamant frowned. "Sooo, who won?" They both opened up a 'give gift' menu as Ben said "Well, we both completed the same dungeon at the same time, so I guess the extra 10,000 goes to outfits?" Adamant gaped as about 20,000 col poured into his vault. "How were you both-" "Long story." They both cut in simultaneously. Sighing in wonderment, Adamant moved to the large circular table in the centre of the giant hall, and chose the 'create guild' option. He paused. "You're all sure about this name, right?" At the four nods he received, Adamant selected their custom emblem, a gold A on a black background, with the left side of the letter engulfed in flames. Then, moving to the 'Insert Name' bar: The Adamant Guard. The five looked at each other across the table they surrounded, and then, putting their hands together above the table, hit the Accept button. 10,000 Col drained from their accounts. And a new guild was born.

So i've got good news and bad news. bad news is i stopped posting for a week. good news is, i didn't stop writing, and will still post extra chapters at significant milestones.

Oh my gosh, this was fun to write. sorry if it gets confusing, but i can imagine te characteers involved felt the same. Follow, Fave, and review fairly. Next chapter, 'Something to pursue', out tommorow. I pinky promise!


	10. Chapter 9:Something to pursue

Disclaimer: I only own OC's. whoever owns SAO, it's not me.

Chapter 9: Something to pursue

Anyone watching Serena at that point would have seen a young girl leaning against a tree wearing a blindfold, absently clicking her tongue, and they probably would have wondered why someone so apparently unequipped was acting so casual in a floor 4 swamp dungeon. But fortunately, there was no one else nearby, so she wouldn't accidently shoot someone if they were the first thing her echolocation picked up. After a few minutes of waiting in the light snowfall common that season, she suddenly drew her bow and fired in one smooth movement, hitting a slug like creature emerging from a nearby pit. She smiled at the gold and exp she received, appreciating the perk she had: 'ease of recovery.' It allowed her to receive any monster drops without troubling to collect them from her sometimes distant targets. Moving further into the swamp, she once again marvelled at the ease of movement she felt in this game. She doubted she could replicate her current sense of awareness in real life. Back in England, she was blind. In Aincrad, she was practically omnipresent.

Serena was jolted out of her reverie by a crash somewhere ahead of her, and quickened her pace, suspecting what was going on, and having her suspicions confirmed when a player marker popped up in front of her. Reaching what sounded like a large, disgusting pond with a large island in the middle, she immediately noted the presence of what seemed to be a large male player facing down an even larger centipede. The mini boss was one of the most dangerous on the floor, but the player was fighting it with reckless abandon, expending flurries of sword skills with some sort of cleaver weapon before simply lifting his shield and weathering the onslaught of cuts from the monsters mandibles. _He's going to get himself killed_. She quickly notched an arrow and powered a 'combustion shot' skill. The glowing projectile flew towards the creature and exploded against its head, causing it to shriek and dig underground. The player, who was apparently called 'Gorgamith' turned towards her, and she could only assume that his face showed shock at a blindfolded girl nimbly leaping across gnarled branches sticking out from the lake. Jumping onto the island, she immediately detected the tremors of the centipede burrowing underneath them, and called out in warning "Move! It's underneath you!" to the startled player. Instead of leaping to the side, (You know, the normal thing to do when something big and nasty is beneath you) Gorgamith stood still, and when the head of the centipede emerged from the dirt, he used his cleaver like a golf club to strike the monster, sending it flying about five metres to the left. Appreciating the power of the strike, Serena fired three arrows in quick succession at the boss, and from the critical damage, hit the eyes each time. Screeching, the creature scuttled forwards, its mandibles glowing red with a sword skill. Gorgamith gave a yell of his own, and ran forwards, his cleaver emitting the high frequency sound of another sword skill. Rule 01 of SAO, you _don't_ trade hit's with a boss like that. _ever_. Serena sprinted, overtaking the slower Gorgamith, and launching a skill of her own: 'focus break.' Slamming the wood of her bow into the mandibles, the interruption skill shattered the red energy of the mandibles and she leapt back, calling "Switch!" As her acquaintance struck the centipede between the eyes, disintegrating it. Serena rounded on him. "Are you insane? You don't solo a mini boss like that, not unless you're a beater, and even the-!" She gasped as she noticed the tiny sliver of health he had left. "What were you… gah, bigger priorities!" She muttered, fishing out teleport crystals.

Five minutes later, the Adamant Guard was assembled in the inn room they had rented, and gathered round the newcomer in their midst. "So let me get this straight." Stated Jade. "You haven't eaten or slept in… how long?" Gorgamith paused in between bites of bread. "Since the first day, when the game master said that we were trapped in here." There were muffled gasps from around the table. It had been brought up only when they described his appearance to Serena, tall, short brown hair, and eyes with more bags than a supermarket full of teenage girls. Serena rounded on him. "And why the heck have you been doing that? Have you even left the dungeons up until now?" Gorgamith turned towards her. "Food and sleep are not necessary for survival in-game. That time is better spent training. However I apologise that it was insufficient to keep you out of danger." Adamant's eyes widened at the person's blatant disregard for his own comfort, and gestured for Serena to join him in the kitchen. (Pleased that she could notice such things with her echolocation.) After she joined him, he immediately rounded on her, saying, "You need to get to know him." in a hurried but low voice. "What? Why?" "I know that look, that way of talking. It's happened to me before. You experience immense trauma, and your subconscious just blocks you from feeling it, or anything. You give yourself a primary objective, and you can't fully feel until you reach it, so you pursue it with single minded determination, no matter the cost to your wellbeing." Jade, who had been overhearing, spoke up. "You've been through that Adamant?" "Yes." He said irritably. "But I'm past it and that's beside the point. That point being that for some reason Gorgamith cares about _you_ Serena. So in some way, you are linked to that objective. So you need to find out what he wants, find out how you are linked to it, get him to open up and convince him of a better way to reach it. Even better, convince him to stop. Otherwise, he'll either ruin the rest of his life to reach that one thing, or he'll die trying. Do you understand?" Biting her lip, Serena nodded. She didn't want to manipulate the poor guy, but if he really couldn't feel emotions… she would help him if she could.

Hearing a sudden commotion, she looked back to find Gorgamith rising from his chair and heading for the door. "Wait!" She called. "Are you really just going to leave?" He turned and nodded. "If you are clearers like you claim, you will see me when you challenge the boss. Until then, I will continue to train." He was halfway through the door and into the blizzard whirling outside when she grabbed his sleeve. "Then I'm going with you!" He frowned at her. "I do not intend for you to be harmed because of me." She tried to look as resolved as possible with a strip of cloth across her face. "I feel the same way. If I leave you you'll just go and get killed by a centipede again." Gorgamith stared at her in thought for a few moments. "If you consent to remain behind me when we confront hostiles, the situation is acceptable." _Wow he is emotionless. That was a lot of fancy words._ "Okay" She said, sending him a party invite. "Let's get training." _And find out what is keeping you like this._

DaDaDAAAA Gorgamith joins the Battle! (super smash bros reference...)

the sixth party member is here, i doubt i'll be making any more OC's. (unless sequel, not that i know how this is gonna end)

Next chapter, 'something to protect' out tommorow, as per usual. Follow, fave and review fairly!


	11. Chapter 10: something to protect

_Disclaimer: I only own OC's. whoever owns SAO, it's not me._

Chapter 10: Something to protect

 _. "If you consent to remain behind me when we confront hostiles, the situation is acceptable." said Gorgamith. Wow he is emotionless. That was a lot of fancy words. "Okay" Serena said, sending him a party invite. "Let's get training." And find out what is keeping you like this._

Serena leaned on her bow, her panted breaths fogging up in the winter air, as Gorgamith stood beside her impassively. "I warned you that this would be strenuous." He said. "That you did GG." She replied. "That you did. You are really determined to defeat this game, huh?" He nodded, already moving towards the nearest group of mobs. "Anyone in particular you want to get back to?" He paused. "My mother is still at home, waiting." She nodded, firing arrows at the now aggro'd mobs as she thought about her next words. "So are you an only child?" He didn't look back, concentrating on the horse sized boar failing to push through his shield, but said. "I am now." _Ohhhhhh._ After they dealt with the herd, she put her hand on his arm. "Who did you lose?" He sighed, pain temporarily showing on his face before it returned to a blank mask. "My little sister. It wasn't long after the GM gave his speech. She just… collapsed. An icon above her said: Attempted forced disconnection, terminating player. And she broke into shards." He paused, apparently gathering himself. "There was nothing I could do, nothing she could do. She was gone, just like that. So I have to clear the game. Because either she's alive back home, in which case I can go and see her, or…" Serena hid her gasp at the lone tear that trickled from one eye. "Or she's dead. In which case I might just kill whoever tried to get her out, and I know I will kill myself." He looked down to her. "She was your age. And she was mute. And it's illogical, I know, but you remind me of her, and trying to help you makes me feel like I'm helping her somehow. Like I did something to help her, rather than simply let her die." Serena thought about it for a while. In a way, it felt kind of offensive that he was helping her for someone else's sake. But she couldn't help but feel pity for his loss. If someone she was close to had died, and she hadn't had a chance to help them… She looked up at him, an idea formulating in her mind. "Actually… there may be a way you can help her." She saw disbelief on his face, and added. "I mean, it doesn't seem likely, but I've heard a rumour going round. About an item that can revive a player…."

 _This may have been a bad idea_. Serena thought, as she sprinted through the forest. The moment he had recovered all the details she knew, Gorgamith had taken off at a run despite his cumbersome armour, and hadn't stopped despite already crossing half the floor. "Stop GG!" She yelled, using the nickname because it required less breath rather than out of affection. "You can't fight this 'Nicholas' if you're half dead by running!" He didn't stop. She cursed and followed, barely managing to avoid tripping on the tangled roots. She finally collapsed in exhaustion when Gorgamith stopped at the edge of the clearing. "Are you insane? I know you want to help your sister but-" THUD. Her rant was interrupted when someone crashed into Gorgamith's shield, bouncing onto the floor. Upon looking, she saw someone who seemed to be the Kirito person who had appeared in all the previous floor clears. It wasn't him that claimed her attention however. What _did_ was the _GIANT FREAKING SANTA_ Stood in the middle of the clearing! Kirito babbled at her in Japanese, to which she simply shrugged, pointed at Robo-death-Santa, and drew her finger across her throat. Getting the gist, he sprinted towards it, sword charging with blue light. Serena launched a few arrows at the thing, and Gorgamith charged, bringing his shield up to block a blow from a large staff that was probably a candy cane. Nicholas gave a metallic groan before hurling a gaudy gift box at Kirito, the black robed beater sprinting away. The reason for his hurried retreat became clear when the present exploded, throwing ice and debris up to metres away. Sprinting back in immediately, Kirito slashed at its head, and Serena was mind blown at the damage. Another swipe of the cane was met by Gorgamith's cleaver, cracking it in two. Serena ran in and fired a combustion shot at its face as the duo smashed it with sword skills, the combined ferocity of their assault blowing it apart.

A small object dropped amidst the blue shards, and Kirito was the one who caught it. He looked at the item description, And Gorgamith saw eyes widen with what could have been seen as crushed hope. But Gorgamith didn't notice. Kirito held something that could get his sister back. He walked towards the Japanese stranger calmly saying "I need that item." Kirito looked at him with what could have been pity, and said something in Japanese that he couldn't understand. Frowning, he opened his mouth- And a dagger flew at Kirito, knocking the item out if his hand. Serena openly swore and looked around, then froze as another dagger pressed against her throat. She saw someone hooded in black pick the item up, and Gorgamith stood, undecided, looking between her and the figure holding the revive. Almost a dozen of them had appeared, surrounding them. "If you don't drop Serena and give me the item," Gorgamith stated. "I will kill you." One of the hooded figures laughed maniacally "Ah, but isn't that our job hmm?" He said. "Fortunately for you, the laughing coffin aren't here for you, we're here for that item. I suppose you'll have to choose then, hmm? Between chasing down the item, or saving your friend." He clenched his fist, and a dagger flew through the air, causing Kirito to double over, and the dagger across Serena's throat slid to the side.

Gorgamith stood, looking. Serena had survived the cut, but a symbol for poison had appeared above her player icon, and her health was decreasing at a rapid rate. In the other direction, the hooded player with the Revival item was running. He thought about his sister. He thought about the girl in front of him. And, his emotions flowing back, he made a decision.

Ten minutes later, Serena returned to consciousness, and clicked her tongue rapidly to get an image of her surroundings. They were still in the clearing. She was alone with Gorgamith. And _alive._ "What happened?" She managed, trying to sit up. "I applied an antidote crystal." Came the reply, Gorgamith's voice sounding… different. "Kirito's dagger wasn't poisoned, so he was fine, but we lost the revival item." It took her a moment to realise what that meant. "You had a chance to save your sister…. And you chose me?" "…Yes." Serena decided that there was only one situation where the word 'yes' meant more, and it wasn't happening to a fourteen year old like her. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Serena spoke again. "Listen… Do you want to join the guild? We're working with the clearers, and with you, it would only be easier to beat the game." _And let you pay respects to your sister._ The unspoken words were on both their minds, but, somehow, she could tell he was smiling at her. "I would love to." The pair took out teleport crystals, and, a moment later, the forest was empty again.

aaaaaaaw, wasn't that lovely. Please favourite, follow, and review fairly. next chapter, 'Player VS Player' out tomorrow. See y'all!


	12. Chapter 11: player vs player

disclaimer: I only own OC's. whoever owns SAO, it's not me.

Chapter 11: Player VS Player

Omnipresent= knowing everything that is going on around them.

Frontline: floor 16. Players surviving: 8,302

It was surprising, Adamant thought, that all it took was a sword and something noticeable in this world to become a celebrity. And the nine most famous people in the game were currently gathered in one room. Asuna, Lvl 52, Knights of the blood oath 2nd in command. A.K.A the lightning flash. You can barely see the tip of her sword, and that's on an off day. Heathcliff, Lvl 54, A.K.A the unbreakable. Since appearing on floor 10 and founding the Knights of the blood oath, his HP has never dropped below half. Period. Kirito, A.K.A the black swordsman. Soloing on the front lines, no one knows what his level is, except that it is higher than theirs.

Their fame was matched collectively, if not individually, by the members of the Adamant Guard. Serena, Lvl 51, A.K.A the Blind Bow woman. Everyone can confidently say she's omnipresent, even if they don't know what it means. Gorgamith, Lvl 53, A.K.A GG to anyone he knows well. His skill with a shield is almost on the level of Heathcliff, and his cleaver is said to be able to break any armour in fewer than 5 strikes. Ben and Bulltrue, Lvl 51 and 52 respectively, known together as the Twin blades. With the best teamwork in the game, the only time they are found apart is when they are competing with each other. Jade, Lvl 53, A.K.A the pale duellist. Most guys are unsure to be terrified of her or attracted. And Adamant, Lvl 55. A.K.A the dragon master. Rumour goes that if you touch his hat or Dylan without his permission, you get used as a human shield in the next boss raid. (Not that a boss had hit him since floor 5.) The top three guilds; the Knights, The Divine dragon alliance, and the Adamant Guard, were gathered around the table in floor 16's grand hall. Heathcliff banged his shield against the floor to call the meeting to order. "Welcome, fellow clearers. I can assume you all know why you are here. The increase in PKings across the game." There were mutterings across the hall. The DDA's leader nodded. "A few hours ago, a group of 20 mid-level players were ambushed and killed while grinding on floor 8. One of them managed to teleport out, and said that the killers wore black hooded clothes and skull masks." Serena perked up and spoke to Ben, who translated. "Serena here has encountered these people before. Apparently they identified themselves as the laughing coffin." Kirito nodded. "I was there. They had no qualms about trying to kill all of us, but managed to steal the revival item." He frowned. "They will have found out quickly that the item was 'apply soon after death', but that sort of thing could be serious blackmail. 'Hand over your valuables and we bring back your friend.'" "Either way," Cut in Heathcliff. "As the strongest players, it's our duty to deal with the problem. The question is what?"

Adamant groaned as he walked out of the hall. Why couldn't people just agree? It had been an almost unanimous decision to send some of the more over-levelled clearers to assist the potential victims. It keeps people safe, and helps more fighters join the front lines. When it came to actually catching the guilds responsible, however, no-one could come to a conclusion. Try and capture them when they attack? Put a bounty on all their heads? Raid potential hiding spots? Dylan nuzzled into his neck and he sighed, reaching up to scratch his reliable companion. _I can deal with anything, sword to sword._ He thought, grimly. _But this cloak and dagger business… it's more the arena of-_ "Hey! Adamant!" He looked to the left to see Ben sprinting towards him. "I just… I…" Ben struggled to catch his breath. "It's Argo. The rat, the, the information broker. She, she says, she says that she has info on the Laughing coffin!"

Argo looked at the newcomer, Adamant, noting his appearance, posture, and expression, and began filtering them through the various rumours she had amassed even as she said "Is that him?" Ben nodded. "It's him. You said you had info on the Laughing coffin?" She shrugged. "Kinda. It's not pure info, but it'll help you." Adamant bit out something in English, which Ben translated. "He says cut to the chase. If you can help save lives, then spill. Err, he's not very good at negotiations, so cut him some slack, K?" Argo sighed. "I wouldn't normally give out free info, but I guess I feel kinda guilty. Thing is, I've sold information to the laughing coffin." Ben raised his eyebrows and rapidly translated for Adamant, who promptly put a hand on his sword hilt. "I didn't mean anything bad, ok? Some guy in a black cloak comes up, says he wants info on how much traffic is in the new dungeons. He paid, I told him about certain people raiding mostly unknown areas, and he left. It happened twice more before I realised that the people he bought info on started turning up dead." Ben had been rapid translating to Adamant, who fired a question back. "Do you know who he was?" Argo shrugged helplessly. "I didn't see his face, couldn't place the voice. Don't worry though; you'll have a chance to interrogate him when you meet him tomorrow." Seeing their confused looks, she grinned. "You think I'd let him know that I was onto him? He'll be here tomorrow for more information. You can listen in, and then when he leaves the safe zone you can get your own info from him." Ben raised an eyebrow. "You're seriously doing this? For free?" She gave him a look that Ben got immediately, but left Adamant clueless. "I may ask for some… special favours later. 2 PM sharp tomorrow, floor 15. Behind the soldiers hearth. I'll be waiting." With that, she sauntered off.

"No I'm serious, she's totally into me-" "Ben! Mission!" The two were perched on a roof above the alleyway where Argo was casually picking at her nails, acting oblivious to their presence, but secretly annoyed at how bad the pair was at being stealthy. She wondered if the Laughing Coffin agent would be as punctual as usual, and was proven correct as the black robes swirled into view right as her clock hit two. "You got the cash?" She requested, not looking up. The man opened up a trade window, inserting 2,000 col into his side. "The map." He said simply. Inwardly frustrated at being unable to recognise the voice, she uploaded a floor map to the window. "This floor, few kilometres south of the city. Group of four spoke way too loudly of their 'secret plans' to raid some 'secret dungeon'." She looked up. "What're you gonna do, steal the quest rewards?" The man accepted the trade and turned away. "None of your business." _Oh, I think it is…_ she thought, as he began to walk away.

Kayaba had put _A LOT_ of detail into SAO. For example, stealth was possible, but there were more factors at play than just your awareness and their stealth skill. In the village style settlements, there were loose roof tiles that could give your position away. Therefore it was Kayaba she silently cursed as one of those _idiot_ boys managed to drop a loose tile to the floor with a CRASH loud enough to wake the dead. Acting like a criminal caught in the act, she looked up, muttered a curse, and ran, noticing the Coffin agent do the same. There was a scrambling noise from above as the two gave chase, but when she heard the distinctive Crack and Puff of a smoke grenade, she knew the game was up. She regrouped with the duo at the front of the inn. "Well that was just fantastic!" She mock clapped as they turned up. "That bit when you knocked the tile down? Fantastic subterfuge. Fortunately, the second attempt should involve more hitting and less sneaking." Ben frowned. "Next attempt? He isn't going to come to you again." Argo chuckled. "Oh Ben, Ben, I thought you knew me? There aren't actually a group of four newbs raiding the dungeon. There will, however, be you two and a pair of other clearers waiting to ensnare some evil player killers." Her chuckle turned into a full on laugh as realisation dawned on Ben's face. "I know, I'm the best info broker ever. Now, you'd better get a team together and buy some lower level gear, because our non-existent quartet is going to be entering their dungeon in about three hours."

Note: yeah, most of this chapters dialogue is in Japanese. If Ben isn't talking to one of the guard, he isn't using English. OMG 500 VIEWS!

Pls fave, follow, and review fairly. next chapter, PVP part 2, up tomorrow. see y'all!


	13. Chapter 12: Player Vs Player pt 2

disclaimer, I only own oc's. whoever owns sao, it's not me.

 _"_ _I know, I'm the best info broker ever." said Argo. "Now, you'd better get a team together and b_ _uy some lower level gear, because our non-existent quartet is going to be entering their dungeon in about three hours."_

Chapter 12: Player VS Player Pt 2.

"Do I have to?" "Of course!" "Why?" "You know why!" "I don't think I can!" "It's not like you're destroying it!" Yeah but…" "Adamant! Lives are at stake!" "My awesomeness is at stake!" "I will leak your details to Argo!" "…. You wouldn't." "I would." "You're a monster." "Goddamit Adamant it's a HAT!" Grimacing, Adamant stabbed down on the unequip button, his trademark hat disappearing, and reassuringly turning up in his the equipment menu. Jade looked at him in mock shock. "Oh my gosh! Adamant! Where did you go!" He sighed. "Well, at least I won't have to worry too much about a disguise." He looked at Jade, Gorgamith and Serena in their low level gear, the latter two _still_ holding hands. He focused on them, his face betraying his concern. "Are you sure you want to do this?" They nodded. "It's been twelve floors since I last met them." Replied Serena. "But I haven't forgotten how they almost killed us. If I can help put them in jail, I will." Adamant nodded, almost wishing Ben was there to lighten the mood. But if Ben came, Bulltrue came, and the big great sword wielder was way too recognisable. He gave them a firm nod. "Remember: the moment you see a black cloak, PM the others. I can imagine we're stronger than a few assassins, but we aren't wearing our high level gear. Until they show up, we may as well try and get as much profit from this dungeon as possible."

Adamant grimaced as he was forced to block a fist from a vaguely humanoid lava monster. Waving off the assistance of his friends, he charged again, circuiting his opponent and delivering a barrage of slashes, causing it to explode. He leant back against a wall, bemoaning the lack of Dylan, his hat, and a decent sword. (The former two because they were too obvious, the latter because there weren't any good smiths on this floor.) After allowing himself a moment, he straightened, formal as usual. "Right then. Good job team. Kudos to you for dealing with the pressure of a no-teleport zone." Adamant had encountered the trapped rooms before, but the level gap between him and the dungeons had kept him out of serious danger. "Our next objective is to challenge this dungeon boss. It shouldn't be too hard, it's not like we're trying to clear the floor, so-" "You'll be doing no such thing." Adamant shot a meaningful glance at Jade before turning to see three players in black cloaks and skull masks. He readied his sword. "Who are you? We're raiding this dungeon, so clear off!" The leading player gave a chuckle. "Oh, I don't think we'll be leaving anytime soon, hmm?" Serena gave a gasp of recognition. "You! I know you!" The player chuckled again. "I suppose an English speaker must be quite rare in a primarily Japanese game, hmmm? But it matters not that you recognise my voice, for you know nothing else about me, hmmm?" Serena grinned, deftly manipulating her game menu. "I know that you are male, level 34, and your avatar name is Kaiser." Her plain bow was replaced with a gilded ebony one. "I know that you're a player killer, working for the laughing coffin." Jade's rapier appeared in its sheath, and Adamant deftly flipped his hat onto his brow. "And I know that there are roughly a dozen of your guild mates hiding around the room." The foursome's basic metal chest plates were replaced with black leather uniforms, trimmed with gold. "I know this because I am Serena of the Adamant Guard, and my awareness is at max, with all the perks, so _I See Everything._ Oh, and another thing I know? Two dozen clearers are bearing down on this dungeon, and you're all going to jail." It took about 5 seconds before Kaiser began laughing again. "Well wasn't that a pretty speech hmm? How long did you practice for? Still, it will take a while for your friends to arrive. Long enough for us to kill you all and escape, hmm?" Jade watched Adamant, as he said: "My apologies Mr Kaiser, but…" His expression flickered from formal to grinning. "That isn't gonna happen."

Adamant charged towards Kaiser, who drew a one handed axe from his belt. He blocked one, then two sword swings, then hooked Adamant's sword out of the way and made a slash at his face. Adamant leant backwards and kicked Kaiser's axe upwards then spun, cutting his sword across the Player Killers skull mask. The object, more ornament than armour, broke apart, revealing the face of its owner. Kaiser snarled and charged forwards.

Jade deftly turned away a strike from her opponent's cutlass and launched a flurry of stabs, all being blocked by the hooded figure's shield. Mildly annoyed, she drove a 'linear' sword skill straight through the offending object, shattering it, before whipping her blade up and driving it through his chest. Gasping in realisation at what she was doing, she withdrew the blade, leaving the player at red HP, before clubbing him into unconsciousness and running to find a new target.

Serena launched arrows at the few ambushers reluctant to believe they had been found, before leaping back to dodge the attack of a growling Coffin member with a great sword. She put a finger up to note the small gash the attack had left on her cheek- "NO!" Gorgamith charged in and rammed his shield against the attacker, throwing him against the far wall. Gratefully taking position behind him, she began to fire more arrows, Gorgamith hacking with his cleaver at anything that came close.

Adamant blocked strikes from both sides, then activated the 'twister' sword skill, cutting holes in the two faceless PKers and turning to Kaiser, who had been drinking a health potion to recover from Adamant's beating. Adamant sighed. "Hiding behind your men? Really? A coward's tactic." Kaiser leered. "Aah, but in this world the cowards are the ones who survive, hmm?" Raising his axe, he powered a sword skill, and charged for Adamant. The pair clashed, steel on steel, and struggled against each other. Adamant came out on top, shoving Kaiser's axe upwards and out of Kaiser's grasp. He prepared for a finishing strike… and grimaced, as a dagger flashed across his cheek. He chuckled. "Really? That's your last ditch-" He crumpled to the floor. Checking his health bar, he saw paralysis in the corner. He swore, and tried to look up, but even the basic head movement permitted by most paralysis poisons was denied to him. He heard mad cackling from above him, and Kaiser crouched into his field of view. "Hmhmhmhm, is it not ironic, hmm? That one of the most skilled fighters in the game dies while paralysed?" Kaiser drew a dagger, and plunged it into Adamant's side. He gasped, not out of pain, but out of shock as his HP began to drop. "Your friends won't be able to help you, I promise." The dagger twisted. "You're going to die, and then I'll use my lovely paralysis on your friends, too, hmm?" Adamant gasped for breath as his health dropped into the red. He thought of Serena, crying through her blindfold. He thought of Gorgamith and the look on his face knowing that he had failed. He thought of Jade, exploding into blue fragments. "No." He whispered. Kaiser looked down in confusion. "What?" Adamant clenched his fists, and, struggling, roe into a crouch. "NOOO!" He gripped his sword, as Kaiser began protesting. "How? You can't-" Shouting, Adamant charged his sword with glowing golden light. Swinging it round, he drove it through Kaiser's chest, causing a massive explosion. When the rest of the Laughing Coffin saw Adamant then, his face mostly obscured, a dagger apparently ineffective in his chest, and his sword glowing with a golden light that was mirrored in his hat's feather and in his eyes, every one of them dropped their weapons and surrendered. It was only after the clearers arrived and took them away that his sword exploded and he crumpled into a heap.

and with that, Adamant has slain his first player.

please fave, follow, and review fairly. next chapter, 'WyrmEdge', up tomorrow.


	14. Chapter 13: WyrmEdge

Disclaimer: i only own OC's. whoever owns SAO (and batman i guess) it isn't me.

Chapter 13: WyrmEdge

CLANG. CLANG. CLANG. Lisbeth panted, sweat beading on her brow as she continued to bring the hammer down on the CrackleSteel ingot. CLANG. CLANG. Finally, the metal formed into a long, thin blade. Lisbeth smiled. Asuna's order had been _hard._ She supposed a clearer needed a weapon with serious quality. Or maybe she just wanted something to try to compete with Kirito. His sword was still her best work, even several floors after the _incident…_ A bell ringing from the front of her shop provided a suitable distraction to put the boy out of her mind. Removing her gloves, she walked up to the front of her shop to see a player in a wide brimmed hat with a dragon on his shoulder, though it looked like the beast was getting too big for the perch. She identified him as the English clearer: Adamant, and adapted her language to match. "Welcome to Lisbeth's blacksmith shop. Can I help you?" He looked up in surprise. "You speak English?" She nodded, smiling. "It would be a pity if I had to turn away customers from lack of communication." He gave her a nod. "Understandable. I need a new katana, but there are a few things it needs to be capable of…" Lisbeth listened, intrigued, as Adamant spoke. If he was serious about this… it would certainly be better than Elucidator, maybe even a new masterpiece…

Adamant noticed a gleam in her eyes as she replied. "There _is_ a way I could make a sword that powerful… you see, there's a rumour of a dungeon on floor 44, of a boss that drops a rare material, but only if he dies to fire with a master smith present. Problem is, the boss is reported to be a dragon, and the only fire that can kill a dragon-" "Has to come from a dragon." Adamant finished, thinking. Lisbeth nodded. "If we go and fight it, and your Dragon-" "Dylan Damage." She giggled. "Seriously? You called it- whatever. If Dylan Damage Deals the final hit of Damage, then the boss should drop the ingot, and I can build your sword. Do you want to bring the rest of your party?" He shook his head. "None of them really know why I need his sword, and I'd prefer to keep it that way. Especially since Ben owes Argo…" Lisbeth raised an eyebrow. "The rat? Good point. Don't worry, I can keep a secret. So…" She manipulated her game menu, a heavy mace appearing at her side. "Let's go slay a dragon!"

Adamant looked out and sighed. Lisbeth glanced across at him. "What?" He looked back at her, then gestured towards the various interconnected floating platforms in the middle of the cavern. "It's an agility dungeon. Half those bridges will be trapped or breaking and the monsters will be flying or able to stick to walls. Expect bats and spiders." She blanched, muttering "I hate those things…" And began to walk towards the first platform. She was expecting it, but still gave a squeak of alarm when a massive bat-thing flew out of the shadows and stretched its claws out towards her. She brought her mace up and smashed it into the face of the thing, producing a satisfying crunch and pushing it away, but taking an embarrassing 10% off of the health bar. She heard a whistle from behind her and Dylan came swooping past, Clawing into the Bat and plummeting down out of sight, before re-emerging in a cloud of flame. She flashed a grateful smile back at Adamant, and moved onwards.

Since she was planning to make him a blade suited to him, she made sure to closely watch his fighting style. While she had expected a careful, precise style that reflected his apparent personality, what she saw was perhaps the opposite. Adamant jumped, flipped, span and slashed with the air of someone who didn't have a care in the world. Heck, he tried to _ride a bat monster!_ Lisbeth didn't really get it, but she knew that the informal version of him was probably more fun to hang around with. _I'll need to incorporate that into the design…_ she thought, as they neared the boss room. Adamant looked incredibly excited, whether at the prospect of the boss or a new sword, she couldn't tell. He glanced across at her. "Just so you know." He said, pushing on the door. "If this is as awesome as I think it is, then I may go a little bitOH MY GOSH IT'S GORGEOUS!" He had looked inside, where, in a massive cavern, a giant, black dragon was waiting. "IT IS AMAZING! I WANT IT! OHMYGOSH I'M SOOO GOING TO FIND A WAY TO TRAIN YOU-" Without pausing from his gushing exclamations he sprinted up to the giant beast and leapt onto its wing, dragging his sword in a great gash across the leathery surface. It roared and flapped the wing, throwing him into the air, and began to breathe fire, but he triggered a sword skill and flung a wave of red energy at the incoming flames, cancelling them out in a massive explosion. Lisbeth simply gaped at the power on display, as Adamant used Dylan as a mini-wingsuit to propel himself into the dragon's chest, sinking in his blade and sprinting _directly up_ the dragon's torso. It howled in agony and snapped its mouth downwards, but Adamant triggered his 'twister' skill and blew the jaws apart. The fight continued in a similar fashion for about 30 minutes, Adamant rarely even taking damage, until he struck at the Dragon's head with a 'Hyper strike', dropping its health into the red, before he was propelled backwards as an 'immortal object' symbol appeared on the area of the strike. Realising that it was switching to a secondary stage, Adamant leapt backwards to Lisbeth, who had been frozen in awe at the display, but now threw a healing potion to Adamant, who downed it in one. The Boss roared, stretched its leathery wings, and began to fly. Adamant gaped in wonder at the thing, now flying in the centre of the giant chasm. Then grinned.

"Okay Dylan, I'm gonna need a boost." After the little dragon attached itself like a backpack to him, Adamant sprinted at the wall, leapt upwards, and began scaling the cliff at a terrific rate. The Boss blew flames towards him, but they fell short simply due to the speed at which he moved up the rock-face, until he barely surpassed the altitude of the floating giant. Then, yelling in apparent ecstasy, he propelled himself backwards from the wall, his fall transformed into an almost-glide by Dylan's 1.5 metre wingspan. Reaching the Dragon's flapping tail, he grabbed on, reaching a crouch on the unstable platform and readying his footing. He called to Lisbeth, dozens of metres below: "Take notes! Here it comes!" Before closing his eyes, and unsheathing his sword. When they snapped open again, they were orbs of golden flame. He yelled out "WYVERN'S TOOTH!" And his sword and hat feather burst into the same gold, and he sprinted along the tail, almost gliding along it and gashing his blade through the black scales, a trail of flame following the attack. Lisbeth looked on in amazement as Adamant drew his sword up the dragon's back, leaping into the air above the neck, and stabbing down onto the head. With a flash of gold, and an explosion of blue shards, the dragon disintegrated. Adamant landed in front of Lisbeth, Dylan returning to his back, and he stretched out his hand to retrieve something that fell beside him. He held it out to her, and she grabbed it, looking at the smooth black surface of an ingot, with gold rippling within it. She gasped and he nodded. "Dragonmelt obsidian. I doubt you'll find anything to trump that until the last few floors. As for the sword skill, it's called wyvern's tooth, as I assume you heard. It boosts my attack, health regeneration and speed, and switches the damage type from physical to dragon fire. The problem is, it obliterates the durability of normal weapons." His point was punctuated by his regular steel sword disintegrating into blue shards. Lisbeth pondered it thoughtfully. "Do you know if there are prerequisites?" Adamant shrugged. "Well, it seems to involve my hat's feather," He indicated the simple yellow plume that had glowed only a minute ago. "And Dylan makes it easier, but I first used it when I won the hat from a floor one mini boss, and later on floor 15 without Dylan. I guess it must be a unique skill, but if that's the case then I kind of want to keep it hidden unless I have to use it. People can be _really_ jealous." Lisbeth smiled at him. "I can't help with the skill, I don't know much about them, so you'll have to ask the game master after you bust us out of this place. But I can help you with not breaking your sword every time you want to kill something. TO THE FORGE!"

 _Badalabadalabaaaa! (spinning screen, batman symbol)_

 _CLANG. CLANG. And the adventure turns full circle_. Lisbeth thought, as she once again began hammering on the anvil. But rather than regular steel, she was forging with _dragonmelt obsidian._ She focused, concentrating on each time the hammer fell. She knew that even with all the proper equipment, she only had about a 70% chance of properly forging such a high level item. But she _wasn't_ going to leave it to the game's random number generator, she _was_ going to make the best sword possible… and after 30 strikes, the metal began to glow, and change, morphing into the shape of a katana. And when the glow dispersed, she decided that yes, this was her new masterpiece. The hilt was golden, with a purple gem at the end. Black leather was wrapped around the grip, which ended in a dragon's head, from which sprouted the blade, black as the ore it was forged from, with flame details in gold running along the flat of the blade for a few inches. Adamant whistled appreciatively. "Now that… is a sword." Lisbeth nodded, appraising the blade. "It's called the WyrmEdge. S class, extra resistant to fire, so you won't have to worry about breaking it with your special skill. And with the amount of upgrade slots, you can keep using this thing for the rest of the game." Adamant gripped the blade, gave it a few practice swings, and then looked across at her. "How much?" She chuckled. "You think I'd charge _money_ for _that?_ It's priceless! Here's the deal. You use it, you make it famous, you bring it here _every day_ for maintenance and _don't you dare_ to upgrade it without bringing it to me with all the items to boost success chance… and you get it for free." He laughed, allowed Dylan to take a sniff at the katana, then sheathed it onto his back, Dylan immediately going into his backpack position and covering the sword. "Sounds like a deal. It was awesome doing business with you, Lisbeth." "It's Liz." She cut in, smiling. "At least, it is to my favourite clients. DON'T BREAK THE SWORD!" Adamant laughed, gave a bow, and exited the shop, the door closing behind him.

Sorry it's a bit late, but hey, it's a bit longer. Please fave, follow and review fairly, next chapter, 'to succumb', up tommorow.


	15. Chapter 14: To succumb

disclaimer: I only own OC's. whoever owns SAO, it's not me

Chapter 14: To Succumb.

"Hey Adamant?"

"Yeah?"

"There's something, it's, well, it's kinda hard to say…"

"Ben, whatever it is, I can take it."

"It's, uh, Antidisestablishmentarianism. Oh my gosh I did it!" Jade sighed inwardly as Adamant broke the Aincrad record for most polite method of telling someone to stick their head down a toilet. The Adamant guard was stood in amongst a massive crowd of clearers in floor 50 city's main pavilion. Despite Ben's attempt to lighten the mood, the general atmosphere over the crowd was one of nervousness. The floor 25 boss had been a serious threat, and most people assumed that the bosses would have a difficulty spike every 25 floors. "Like the quarter quells in the Hunger games!" Adamant had remarked, to confused looks from the rest of his team. References to decade old books aside, the floor 25 boss had killed three people, and no one was anxious for a repeat, which was why they had waited an extra two weeks after the planning session to grind a few extra levels. Hearing a CLANG from the front of the pavilion, Jade turned to the front to see Heathcliff preparing to give his customary speech. "Fellow clearers!" He called out. "Today, should we succeed, marks the halfway point in our attempts to escape this land. I do not expect this to be easy, but I believe that if we stay strong, stay together, and stick to the plan, we can defeat the boss and continue our progress up Aincrad. Are you ready?" Jade joined in the following cheers of assent. "Then Let's Go!" Pulling a crystal from his inventory, he held it aloft and shattered it, a portal appearing before him. The 'checkpoint crystals', that were a rare drop from some floor 50 monsters, open portals to the areas just in front of the boss rom of that floor, if the crystal had already been in that area. In the Beta, according to Adamant, the crystals had been used to re-join your raid group if you had died before the boss. She didn't know why they could also send hundreds of people at once, but she was glad she could skip the walk.

" _So here's what we know."_ Ben had translated. " _We're fighting 'Janus of many faces'. All five health bars of him. The room is a no-teleport zone, so we lost a man before the scouts got out. They whittled down a whole health bar though, and its fighting style changed. All of a sudden, it switched from simple sword sweeps to AoE attacks. Since the thing has five health bars, we can assume that it changes style each time a bar breaks."_

That had been the briefing, and it still left a lot of questions to be answered. No one knew what the final few stages were. Still, if it lay between them and victory, then they would make it fall. Jade moved to Adamant's side, who in turn stood beside Heathcliff, who in turn was beside the other 7 strongest players. Together, as was their custom, they all together pushed open the boss door and entered the chamber. The boss room was arranged like a giant coliseum, torches burning brightly in sconces on the outside of the room, all illuminating the three metre high humanoid in the middle. It was robed in pale green, the type a samurai would wear, and it sat in a meditative stance. The raid group fanned out, spreading across the chamber, and Heathcliff, leading a group of tank-classes (including Gorgamith) moved closer to the middle. After about ten steps, they tripped a non-existent wire. The figure in the centre rose, slowly, and turned to face its opponents. While its head was covered by a hood, its face was visible. And for some reason, Janus of many faces was smiling. Jade almost mistook it for a special quest NPC, until it unsheathed two large katanas from its back, and bore down on Heathcliff. Raising its blades, it launched a quick flurry of strikes, all harmlessly deflected off of the tank's shield, before charging the swords with green light, and striking downwards. Heathcliff called "Switch!" And suddenly, Serena ran in, leaping up to deliver her 'focus break' skill, slamming the wood of her bow into the incoming blades and shattering the green light. She leapt backwards from the still moving blades to behind Gorgamith, who tanked the now basic strikes with little difficulty. The momentary respite gave Serena a chance to fire a combustion shot at Janus' head, causing the massive figure to stagger backwards, and she called "Switch!" again to let Heathcliff back in front. It was a technique the pair had developed that effectively stopped any powerful boss onslaught in its tracks.

While the Boss' aggro was held by the tanks, however, the rest of the group was hardly sitting idly by. Jade dashed up to the Boss' legs, an action mirrored by Asuna, who reached Janus just a split second faster, once again winning the 1000 col bet that she could hit the boss first. The duo both launched a flurry of piercing strikes against Janus' legs, soon followed by Kirito, Adamant, Ben and Bulltrue, then the rest of the DPS members of the group. The tactic of some players burning down a boss' HP while tanks held its attention was the go-to method of beating anything, and it seemed to work against Janus too. The HP was cut down into yellow, then red, and then the first bar shattered. Janus roared, and Bulltrue, louder, shouted "IT'S CHANGING FORM! BE READY FOR THE AoES!" The DPS players fell back, and Janus' cloak, looking like wet paint, shimmered, and then turned blue. When it looked down, its once smiling face now seemed depressed to the point of crying. Its yell now sounded like a moan as it began another assault on the tanks. Jade sprinted forwards, almost feeling bad at the cries of the boss as her rapier pierced its leg. Asuna joined her, and as the pair made serious progress, and its face contorted in pain, a tear rolled down its cheek. The rest of the DPS troops had almost reached it when the tear hit the floor. And exploded in a flash of blue light, hurling all the attackers across the room and staggering the tanks defence. Heathcliff had to take the full burden of Janus' strikes for a while as the team recovered. Jade realised what had happened, and called out: "After you deal enough damage, the tear drops, and it does an AoE! Attack in sudden bursts, and get out quickly!" Her advice was taken to heart, and she was forced to slow down to stick with the main body of attackers as they ran in, expended sword skills, then retreated to avoid the tear explosion. That health bar, apparently about 30% bigger, soon shattered as well. Predicting another change, the groups retreated again, and as expected Janus yelled up at the sky. Its robes turned yellow, its moan became a scream, and when it looked down, fear was plastered on its face.

Jade grimaced. _Now what is it going to_ \- It screamed again, and a dozen small yellow bolts flew towards the DPS troops, despite the boss apparently being aggro'd against the tanks. The unprepared troops simply had to weather the onslaught, some jerking about from an apparent paralysis effect, and Jade gasped as many health bars moved towards red. Annoyed, she lunged forwards, and this time aiming for the head of the boss. She scored a blow against the face, before being shoved backwards as its katana collided with her rapier. She checked her health bar and noticed that it was at about 70% after the stunt, but the DPS group were attacking with renewed ferocity at being caught off guard. Heathcliff deployed a few tanks, Gorgamith among them, to protect the DPS group from errant ranged attacks, and despite the increased length of the health bar, this round of the boss was conquered faster than the one before it, if only for the renewed determination of the DPS team. As the third bar shattered, the group retreated again, familiar with the routine. Ben ended up next to Jade. "Betcha 10 col that his next colour is-" Ben was cut off by the manic-sounding roar Janus produced, its robes shimmering into a violent scarlet, its face furious. "Red." Ben finished. "Called it." Jade was already sprinting in, striking at the left leg and spinning past, preparing to target the right- "LOOK OUT!" The shout made her look up just in time to put her blade between her and a glowing red sword, but not in time to stop her being slammed across the room and smashed against the far wall, her rapier splintering into blue shards.

Heathcliff, sensing the danger, activated his unique 'divine blade' skill and lunged forwards, launching occasional strikes to ensure he held Janus' entire agro, as the group re-organised and Adamant sprinted over to Jade. She swore and was manipulating her game menu when he reached her and handed her a healing potion, she sipped the foul tasting liquid as she equipped her backup weapon. "You OK?" Adamant asked, his face rife with concern. She glanced up to her health bar, gradually rising above red, but nodded. "So this time, the gimmick is that he attacks whoever attacks him?" She said, slowly standing. "That's hardly fair." Adamant flashed her a smile and gestured to Dylan, who sent her a healing pulse and brought her HP above 50%. "We can handle it." Already, tanks were being assigned to DPS players, and the battle became one of sudden charges from the pairs, one striking with a sword skill, the other blocking the inevitable counterattack. Surprisingly enough, Ben was directing who-charged-when, as Heathcliff was preoccupied getting between his troops and the red, multi hit sword skills Janus occasionally dished out. It was slow progress, but it was progress, and it took almost 15 minutes for the health bar to shatter, leaving one remaining. The raid group retreated and regrouped, and Jade ended up beside Adamant again. "What do you think it'll do now?" She asked, struggling for breath. "It's running out of emotions." Adamant shrugged. "Power of love? Run up and hug someone to death?" Jade grinned. She loved him whe- she loved _it_ when he was like this. "You'd love that wouldn't you?" She teased. "Big man to hold you tight?" He laughed and was about to offer a suitable retort when Janus roared. His cloak shimmered… and stayed that way, flickering between colours. The hood that had obscured his head fell away. Only it wasn't a proper head. It was like a cube, the top tapered to a point, the bottom screwed onto the body, and on each of the four visible sides was a different face. And Janus' many faces began to spin.

Adamant stood and watched as the happy face aligned with Janus' body and it launched the green two strike combo against Heathcliff's shield, it switched to the sad, and a tear dropped, the explosion of blue staggering him and the other tanks backwards. It switched to its afraid face, and launched yellow projectiles against the group. One of the tanks whose guard had been broken by the AoE took one full in the chest, and was stunned by the paralysis effect. The angry face aligned, and with some malevolent programming it targeted the defenceless player with a red, 5 hit combo, sending him flying across the room. He disintegrated before he hit the ground. Somewhere, Adamant knew, some poor kid jerked in a hospital bed as his brain was fried. In that chamber, the group dissolved into chaos. The boss just _wouldn't stop_ unleashing sword skills. Another player, a girl, was slain before Adamant could whistle to his guild and charge Janus as Ben yelled " _Get out!_ " to the panicked players. Ben and Bulltrue each deflected one strike of the Green two-hitter, allowing Jade to dash in and strike at its chest. She glimpsed a tear flash and all three were blown backwards. Yellow projectiles followed them, most shot out of the air by Serena who took one to the chest. A sharp red blur launched towards them, Gorgamith absorbing the brunt of the damage his shield before being thrown backwards by the sheer force of the attack. Adamant looked at the sliver of damage his team had just dealt, sighed, and readied his sword. "ADAMANT GUARD! GET EVERYONE OUT OF HERE NOW! THAT IS AN ORDER!" His eyes narrowed. "I'll hold off our bipolar buddy here." He shut his eyes, focused, and as he opened them, they flashed with gold.

Adamant charged Janus, WyrmEdge seeming to look alive in the dragon flame encompassing it. He matched the green strikes with two of his own, then dashed past, drawing his blade through Janus' chest. He heard the moan and leapt, his ascent boosted by the blue explosion, almost 10 metres, then fell back down, slicing yellow bolts out of the sky and cutting a gash into the terrified face. Janus staggered, then switched to his rage face, launching a red combo at Adamant the moment he came out of his fall, Adamant deflected the first four but took the fifth on the flat of his blade, sliding backwards from the sheer force of the impact. He took a moment to assess the situation; most of the players had been evacuated but some were still there; still in danger, he _couldn't let them die_. Letting out an almost bestial howl he charged back towards Janus. Green, Blue, Yellow, and Red clashed with gold as Adamant matched Janus stroke for stroke, each collision knocking a chunk from his HP, even with his boosted regeneration from 'Wyvern's tooth' he wouldn't last much longer. _Too many sword skills_. He realised. _That's the gimmick. His last stage never runs out of pigging SWORD SKILLS._ "Adamant! We're clear!" He heard Jades voice and tried to pull away, but in doing do left an opening in his technique. The green strikes knocked his guard up before a blue explosion sent him flying into the sky. A volley of blasts left him defenceless, and he saw the face spin back to anger, the blades glow red- CRACK 40% health.

CRUNCH- 30%

SLASH- 20%

WHAM- 10-

"Screee!" a sound approached from his left-

SMASH- but his health didn't drop-

He flew across the room-

SLAM into the floor-

Hands dragging him through a doorway-

And the boss door slammed shut.

Panting, Adamant lay there, confused. He should be dead, why wasn't he dead… A pathetic moan came from in front of him. He opened his eyes, and saw Dylan, lying there, gasping. He struggled to stand, couldn't, and crawled forwards, cradling his familiar in his hands. "Hey, hey, shhh, it's ok, you aren't going to… no…" He muttered, as Dylan's health bar dropped, unfalteringly, inexorably, towards zero. And hit it. The once proud dragon gave one last, mournful noise… and shattered into blue fragments. Dylan Damage, Dragon Dealer of Destruction and Diminisher of the Darkness, was Dead.

Jade yanked Adamant through the doorway, and paused for breath, panting, eyeing the sliver of health remaining. "Oh my gosh…" "Did you see that fight…" "It was sooo cool…" The mutterings coalesced into one disrespectful noise and Jade turned to the crowd. "What are you still here for?" She yelled. "Go grind, you idiots. We meet at the hall in another week!" She turned back to Adamant just in time to see him cradling his familiar as it split into blue shards. She gasped at Adamant's expression. His mouth hung open, his eyes wide. A single tear leaked. Then all of a sudden, the eyes blinked and refocused. The jaw straightened. Adamant stood, emotionless as a statue. And _that_ hurt her more than any tears he could have produced. _Adamant_. She thought. _What have you just done?_

No comment.

Please follow, favourite and review fairly. next chapter, 'To endure', up tomorrow.


	16. Chapter 15: To Endure

Disclaimer: i only own OC's. Whoever owns SAO, it's not me.

Chapter 15: To endure.

 _The once proud dragon gave one last, mournful noise… and shattered into blue fragments. Dylan Damage, Dragon Dealer of Destruction and Diminisher of the Darkness, was Dead._

"Hey. You OK?" Jade glanced sideways to where Serena was stood, concerned. She nodded, wiping her eyes. "I'm fine. _He_ is in serious trouble." She looked back to where Adamant was deftly manipulating his game menu. His expressionless eyes flicked across the screen in front of him, before fixating on a single item. Tapping it, he materialised a small yellow feather, almost identical to the one in his hat. Jade walked up. "'Dylan's heart' huh?" Not looking up, Adamant returned the item to his inventory and glanced towards Ben, standing awkwardly (like the rest of the guild) a few metres away. "Ben. The rumour about an item that can revive a familiar. Do you know if it is true?" Ben nodded. "Yeah. Some garden dungeon on floor 47. Apparently some girl… Silica I think? Managed to revive a pet water drake with it. Do you want us to-" "No." Came the curt reply, Adamant already moving past them. "You'll only slow me down." Jade, making a show of it, dashed from behind him to a metre or so in front. "But I won't." She said, meeting his gaze determinedly. "I'm not letting you share all your exp with a guild then go solo so close to the front lines. Adamant kept walking. He was close to the teleport gate when he replied. "Your presence is acceptable." Jade couldn't help but remember when Gorgamith had been in a similar state.

 _"_ _I know that look, that way of talking. It's happened to me before. You experience immense trauma, and your subconscious just blocks you from feeling it, or anything. You give yourself a primary objective, and you can't fully feel until you reach it, so you pursue it with single minded determination, no matter the cost to your wellbeing."_

 _"_ _You've been through that Adamant?"_

 _"_ _Yes, but I'm past it and that's beside the point."_

 _Well then._ She thought, as she followed him through the gate. _I suppose his wellbeing is my responsibility now._

Jade dodged a swing from a plant monster, and countered with a 3-hit combo sword skill, breaking it apart. Glancing left, she saw Adamant finish his own monster before once again heading off at a sprint. She sighed and ran to keep up. The moment she drew level, she was greeted with "I am incapable of utilising 'Wyverns Tooth'. This may affect my combat capabilities." Jade sighed inwardly.

"I think I know why, but I doubt you'll understand while… well…"

"While I'm incapable of feeling emotions?" Off-put by his blunt manner, she simply nodded. "It is my secondary objective to ensure you understand the situation, so I will explain." He paused for a second (not stopping running) apparently deciding on what to say, before settling on:

"Why do you ever do anything? To make yourself happier, yes?" She nodded, unsure where he was going with it. "That's why this… emergency mode, let's call it, is so effective. Because I know that the only thing I can do to make myself happier, to make myself happy at all, is to resurrect Dylan." Jade struggled for words. It seemed to make sense. To remove the trauma while you fix the problem, like applying anaesthetic while you help a wounded animal. And yet… "But… to block out emotion… isn't it…" He gave her a look.

"Whatever you say won't help. Anything you say that I don't judge as useful gets deleted, and when I complete the primary objective my memories of this experience get erased." Jade gave a whistle. "You've got this down to an art, huh?"

"This is attempt two. Attempt one was less efficient, and had some… negative aftereffects." Jade didn't hide her gasp this time. "You always being really formal…" _except when you're fighting…_ She stopped running just before a large plateau, which Adamant walked straight up to. On a pedestal in the centre was a small patch of dirt. _Why is there a shrine to dirt?_ Jade thought for a split second, before, upon Adamant's approach, it began to glow with a golden light, ( _Why is there a shrine to glowing dirt_? Jade thought for a split second) and a small flower began to grow. ( _Why is there a- ohhh.)_ And, as Adamant reached out to take the item, Jade leapt over his head, plucked the flower, and landed in one smooth movement.

Adamant looked up, and though his face betrayed no emotion, he put his hand on his sword hilt.

"What are you doing?" He said. Jade shrugged, bringing up her menu.

"Whatever made you act like this last time, it changed you, for the worst. I won't get between you and Dylan, but if I can find an alternative way to bring you back, I will. So," She tapped an option, and a duel invite appeared in front of Adamant. "Fight me. And if you win, you get the flower." Adamant stood there for several seconds, and Jade could almost see the cogs turning in his brain. Finally, however, he pressed the accept button. Jade's heartbeat went up a gear. She hadn't known whether this would work, heck, she still didn't know. Mindful of the countdown ticking between them, she drew in a deep breath, steadied herself, and drew her rapier, settling into the duelling stance she knew so well. _He assumes I'll stick to usual fencing rules_. She thought, watching the timer hit 10 seconds. _So he'll try to catch me off guard with something unorthodox. I can't let him win that easily._ 3…2…1…GO!

The moment the timer hit zero she dashed forwards, opening with a flurry of thrusts to Adamant's midsection, he tucked his blade in close and turned away the blows with minimal effort, retaliating with a sweeping sword skill that she dashed out of the way of before closing back in, their blades dancing between them and clashing in the middle. He'd be expecting her to slip out of the sword-lock (where he had the advantage), so he would do something different, she knew, therefore she wasn't surprised when his knee rammed up towards her chest. She brought her shin up to block the strike, pivoting on her remaining leg to throw him off balance, and instead of the predictable swing, she made an edge with her hand and lashed out at his neck, stunning him and knocking him backwards. When he brought his head back up, she could have sworn she saw a hint of pride in his eyes before he raised his katana to meet the incoming onslaught.

A minute or so later, her plan seemed to be failing. Unlike his usual self, Adamant was currently performing each stroke with lethal efficiency, but as a result had lost the muscle memory he possessed associated with his normal fighting style. That, coupled with being unable to use his unique 'Wyvern's Tooth' should have put Jade at an advantage, but even with the subtle handicaps he was still _just_ out of her league. She couldn't allow him to beat her like this, she _couldn't_ she needed to go _faster_. She barely registered a small ping from a corner of her screen, but had she paid more attention to it she would have noted that it congratulated her on learning a new skill. What she _did_ note was her sword glowing crimson. She flashed past him and curved to the left as she past, her blade sliding across his and drawing a red line in the air. She pivoted and made the same manoeuvre, ending in a different place just past him, then flashed past again, and again, faster and faster, drawing a web of red energy around him. He drew his blade in tighter movements around him, barely staving off the increasingly rapid onslaught. After what must have been a dozen passes, she dashed in and used their sword connection to propel herself into the air above him. She couldn't help but notice how the glowing net almost looked like a rose, before looking down and meeting Adamant's eyes. They held the connection for a brief second as she began to fall towards him, her rapier stretched out before her. And at some point in that one, crucial second, something passed between the two combatants. And Adamant smiled. A moment later, when the net of lines closed around him and her blade struck like lightning from above, the rose red was met by fiery gold.

There was an explosion, and the pair was in the centre of it, their swords clashing between them in a deadly dance, eyes locked, the fight becoming a contest of willpower… before Jade's rapier was flung behind her and onto the dirt. And she collapsed into Adamants arms. "Easy… easy… I'm back." He said, chuckling slightly. "We know next time I go into 'emergency mode' you just have to beat me up, but that one's over, ok?"

"No." Came the muffled reply. "It isn't over yet." She looked up, and when she did, there were tears in her eyes. "The first time this happened. What caused it?" Adamant sighed, the pain obvious on his face. "I was 10. My mother was diagnosed with some rare disease, I was too young to understand what, but I could tell that if we didn't come up with enough cash, she was probably going to die. When I understood what _that_ meant, that was when it first happened. To me, I just have a blank spot in my memory that lasts half a year. From what I've been told, I somehow managed to hack my father's account, and buy shares in companies I believed would profit. We were important, but not rich, at least, not until what I did started paying off. But I cheated a lot of people. Got a lot of people ticked off at my family, and ruined my relationship with my father. But by the time we got enough money, it was too late. Mum had gone from preliminary symptoms to a full case, and there was nothing we could do. Now she's lying in a hospital cleanroom, in a medically induced comma to relieve the pain." He paused, taking a moment to gather himself, tears flowing freely down his cheeks. "Father donated all the money to charity, got a knighthood, and never forgave me for ruining his rep as a businessman. As for myself, I suppose I never fully got free of that incident. Whenever I'm near other people I lock up, hide behind a wall of courtesy, fearing that it's someone I cheated, or hurt, for money that never really mattered. I guess I hoped that if I played a VR game like Sword Art, I could stop being so scared, since no-one knew who I was." He gave a sad smile. "I told you on that first day. Everyone's got a sop story." Jade looked into his eyes, her own scarlet orbs deadly serious. "There's something special about you, Adamant. To be able to experience what you have and keep going? It's admirable, above all else. But you can't just shut out the pain, pretend not to feel it. You have to accept it as something important and keep fighting anyway, no matter how hard it is." He smiled down at her.

"I don't suppose you could help me with that last part, could you?" came the tentative request. She smiled. "Me and four other guild mates. And a certain pun-named dragon you seem to have forgotten about." The smile of realisation on his face right then was her favourite scene in Aincrad, and she made sure to do the double blink 'screenshot' command to get a picture of it.

Materialising Dylan's heart, and accepting the flower from Jade, Adamant touched the two items together. They began to glow, and blur into a single form, expanding and lengthening into a familiar reptilian shape, before the glow shattered, and out flew Dylan Damage, flying around and squealing in a way so happy an AI shouldn't be able to imitate it. It immediately circled Adamant three times before returning to its position on his back, leaning forward to let its master scratch it a few times on the forehead. Jade beamed at them. "And you finally look the part again!" She leaned in and planted a kiss on his cheek, and, without noticing his face turn about the same red as her eyes, she clapped her hands together and looked towards the towering hollow in the centre of the floor. "Now then, don't we have a boss to be fighting?"

And It's All Better! Please follow, favourite, and review fairly. Next chapter, 'to overcome', up tommorow. I hope, i'm kinda in a slump...


	17. Chapter 16: to overcome

Disclaimer: i only own OC's. whoever owns SAO it's not me.

Chapter 16: To overcome.

 _Jade leaned in and planted a kiss on his cheek, and, without noticing his face turn about the same red as her eyes, she clapped her hands together and looked towards the towering hollow in the centre of the floor. "Now then, don't we have a boss to be fighting?"_

Adamant exhaled, slowly, as he walked back to the boss door. His last interaction with it had been when he had been dragged through it by Jade, then promptly lost his dragon. It was not a place he held much fondness for.

He glanced to his left, where Heathcliff stood with a raised eyebrow. Adamant gave a confident nod. The Knights of the Blood Oath leader had been less than reassured by Adamant's 'trust me, I can beat it' attitude at the meeting a day before, and wasn't confident that they could overcome Janus without losing any more players. Truthfully, neither was Adamant, but he just _knew_ that he was capable of overcoming the Boss' final form. And looking to the left, where Jade was giving him an encouraging smile, he remembered why.

Adamant pushed open the door and began directing the players to starting positions, before running off to join the DPS group. When he was sure everyone was in position, he raised his fist, then yanked it downwards. And Heathcliff stepped forward, causing Janus of many faces to awaken.

There was a profound sense of _I don't want to do this again_ among the raid group, and Adamant shared their resolution to get the early stages out of the way quickly. He sprinted forwards, barely behind Jade and Asuna, and began to combo his sword skills into each other in a relentless barrage. The basic and predictable first stage posed no real threat to the determined group, and the first bar, in a matter of minutes, was shattered.

As Janus roared and began to switch to his second stage, the party regrouped, but this time they _knew_ how it was going to fight. The moment Heathcliff and the tanks reclaimed agro, the DPS group gathered in a semicircle behind Janus. Adamant nodded to Ben, who shouted in Japanese "On my mark! 3…2…1…STRIKE!" Half of them launched their sword skills into Janus' legs at once, cleaving a large chunk from that HP bar, the other half were waiting behind, and pulled their now frozen teammates out of the range of the AoE. Were there better options? Probably. Were there more amusing ones to take part in? Probably not.

It only took a few salvos of attacks to shatter that HP bar, and the players immediately regrouped, several tanks moving to protect the DPS team. Adamant made a show of cricking his neck, thoroughly enjoying himself despite the danger involved. "OK then, Serena! See what you can do about those projectiles! I'm gonna speed this up a little." He whistled to Dylan, who flew back to its master and gripped on to his back. Adamant, his familiar in position, closed his eyes and thought.

He knew what activated his 'Wyverns Tooth' skill, and why he couldn't use it when he was in 'emergency mode.' It was obvious after the fiasco with the resurrection flower. Sure Dylan and his hat made it easier, but the real catalyst, cheesy as it sounded, seemed to be caring about his friends. So it only took a second before his eyes lit up with gold.

Adamant sprinted forwards, neck and neck with Jade this time, and began to hack at the now yellow boss' legs. The damage he was dealing shocked even himself, and he had to dart out of range quickly or run the risk of being targeted. Janus howled and a dozen yellow spheres winked into existence above its head, all of which were fired out of the air by Serena before they hit their intended targets. (how did she shoot that fast?) Not to be left out, Ben managed to sweep Janus _off its feet_ at one point, allowing Bulltrue (and to a lesser extent Gorgamith) to pound on it with a flurry of powerful slashes. It was Serena who finished that bar, leaping upwards and firing a 'combustion shot' point blank into its face. ("Show off!" Ben called.)

The fourth health bar had people worried, but they quickly split into their predetermined pairs, with Adamant, Jade, Heathcliff, Asuna, and Kirito left alone due to the uneven tank/DPS ratio. The plan, modified from their original attempt, was simple; Ben yells a number corresponding to a pair, the tank runs in to draw agro and take a hit on his/her shield, while their counterpart runs in and scores a free hit on the boss' rear end. The players without partners generally orbited Janus, stopping it from targeting retreating players, getting in hit's occasionally, and (This mainly just Heathcliff) tanking the 5-hit combo the boss dished out once in a while.

After flipping out of a charge which bought time for a stumbling player, Adamant landed next to Jade. He pointed to the low HP bar above Janus' head. "You can finish it if you use your unique skill!" Jade blinked at him. "You mean 'Thorn of the Rose'? That thing's unique?" Adamant nodded. "Ben asked Asuna. Her build is similar to yours and she never got it. Plus you don't get names that big and fanciful on regular skills." She shrugged and nodded, almost laughing at how casual the conversation was _halfway through a battle_ , and reversed her grip on her rapier, holding it like a dagger close to her hip sheath. Knowing the skill had been activated; she dashed in, moving towards and swerving to the side of the Boss, before pivoting and repeating the manoeuvre. The raid group stood and watched in awe as Jade drew a net of red energy around Janus, then leapt above his head, bringing her sword down like a crimson lightning bolt and slicing through his head, then torso, then leaping away as the web of energy exploded, staggering the Boss into a crouch and shattering the health bar.

Adamant caught the attention of his team and nodded, causing them to move out and generally surround Janus while Ben shouted advice and orders to the raid group at large. Adamant stood in front of the boss, and while it began to rise, and its hood fell into the wind, he stood still, extinguished the golden fire, and looked within himself again. This time, he sought out the cold, iron discipline he had last found in a blind panic over the remains of his familiar. Only this time, he didn't block out his emotions, not fully. It was the difference between fully shutting your curtains to block the noise from outside (at the same time blinding you and making it hard to reopen them) and leaving a gap in the curtains; not fully stopping the noise, with the benefit of having some light to see by. He gained control, and with it came a barrage of images, people, computer screens, his father's face, all from a slightly lower viewpoint than he was used to. _My missing half-year_. He realised. _My first time in_ emergency mode, _the one I forced myself to forget._ He thought back to Jade's advice, just after their duel. " _You have to accept the pain as something important and keep fighting anyway, no matter how hard it is."_ And he did accept it. He accepted that he had hurt people, and that people were going to be hurt no-matter what he did. And he decided that he _could_ bear that, and keep feeling, and keep fighting.

It was then that he decided that thinking to yourself was a tactical mistake when fighting a large, armed foe, and from _that_ he concluded that his deliberations had had their intended effect. He heard a hum growing louder from above him, and dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the green glowing katana that embedded itself into the floor beside him. The other blade came swinging in from the left, and he brought up his own blade to block the blow, unmoving despite the force of the impact. When he looked up at Janus' faces, his eyes were their usual blue, but held an ice that was far from normal. He brought his sword into the air above him, generally ignoring the falling tear that he knew heralded an AoE, and, after deciding that yelling 'IRON FIELD!' would be a waste of time, stabbed his blade into the ground. A series of white runes spread from the point of impact, and the explosion caused when the tear hit the ground winked out.

'Iron field'; a skill that neutralises all abilities attempted nearby (including by the user) as long as the effect is active. Adamant watched as all four faces seemed to show mild confusion as well as their predetermined emotions, and decided that it was a scene he would find amusing later, so he snapped a Viewshot of it. "Well then." He said, knowing that Ben was translating him word for word. "I know some people have some revenge they need to take care of, but…" He ended the discipline, pleasantly surprised that all it took was remembering a few choice times with his guild, and smiled. "I really want to fight you on an even playing field."

It took him about four minutes to get bored of the duel. Janus, apparently programmed mainly to spam his sword skills, was _pitiful_ when it came to normal combat. The moment Adamant got over the two swords problem it was far too easy to burn his health down. When it reached about half, he shrugged, staggered the boss and wandered off to take a seat at the edge of the room. For the next few minutes, he just watched, smiling slightly, as the players overcame Janus of many faces, and (with the last hit apparently from Jade) smashed it into a myriad of blue shards. _Well._ He thought. _50 floors down, 50 more to go._

Aaaand, that little trifecta of chapters is complete! The mini aftermath chapter, 'to comprehend' (words big much wow) comes out at 1000 views or tommorow, whichever comes first. Plz fave, follow and review fairly. See y'all!


	18. Chapter 17: to comprehend

Disclaimer: I only own OC's. whoever owns SAO, it's not me.

Chapter 17: Aftermath: To comprehend.

"Here's to 50 floors people!"

"CHEERS!"

Adamant chuckled as Ben began a rousing speech (in a terrible Scottish accent.) "Tonight, we celebrate our greatest victory! 50 times have we hung around a bunch of jackasses in order to beat up an oversized set of bagpipes, but now… we…" He paused. "Still have 50 to go, actually… sorry what are we celebrating?"

"How about new outfits?" Jade commented, causing Adamant to groan. "I'm serious!"

"I still don't get it." Adamant said. "We beat the halfway point boss and get some shiny cloth, and then Lisbeth freaks out and makes us clothes that look exactly the same as our current ones."

Jade laughed. "You'll notice the difference when you start fighting again. The new gear is made of chameleon cloth. As well as good stats in general, it drops the damage of any type of special attack that's used in succession." Noting Bulltrue's confused expression, she simplified: "It makes glowing things hurt less."

Adamant shrugged. "I have a skill that does that, some armour for Dylan would be better-OH MY GOSH PLEASE TELL ME THAT IS A THING-" "Speaking of skills!" Gorgamith yelled, cutting off Adamant's gushing before it got too serious. "What was that move you pulled off back in the boss room? You paused for a few seconds, stabbed the floor, and all of a sudden Janus stopped using his sword skills."

Adamant sat back in his chair and began to scratch under Dylan's chin. "Iron field. No one uses sword skills while it's active. So now I have _two_ unique skills and everyone knows it. Goodbye social life outside you five."

Jade put her hand on his shoulder. "I saw your face when you used it. It was the same face you used when Dylan died." The familiar gave a squeal of displeasure at the painful memory, and Adamant put a calming hand on its head. "Kinda, but less _completely emotionless._ I still feel, but my feelings don't affect my judgement, and all that Jedi rubbish. It's _really_ boring." Jade frowned. "But how do you break out of it?"

He shrugged again. "I've only done it once, but when I did, it was by thinking of you." Ben eyed the dwindling distance between the pair and cleared his throat. "Uuh, do you two want to get a room, or-"

 ** _"_** ** _NO!"_**

Somewhere IRL, Akihiko Kayaba looked at the monitors that let him observe the operations of the cardinal system, and his brow furrowed as he observed the statistics of the guild known as the Adamant Guard. After witnessing the _fourth_ anomaly caused by that party alone, he had quickly gathered all the information he could on Adamant, A.K.A James Johnson. The boy was fourteen, but had lost one year of that life to Sword Art Online, and apparently had a fractured memory of half his tenth year, not that his father had allowed any psychiatrists too close. _Probably for the sake of public relations._ He mused. _You don't want your reputation soiled by bad press._ There were many reasons he had stopped caring about those things. Around 7,000 living reasons and 3,000 dead ones.

He sighed and stretched, then moved towards his bed, where his personal nerve gear was waiting. He pressed a button on the side, informing his 'nurse' that he was about to take another dive, then slipped on the metal helmet. _What makes that boy so special?_ He wondered, powering on the machine. _Well, I have 50 floors to find out._

sorry it's so short, but hey, its a mini epilogue.

We are now halfway through (ish) and just when we get 1000 views! can we reach 2000? 3? even (gasp) 5000! is it possibru? probably not, but hey, a guy can dream, can't he? next chapter probably wont be up tomorrow, but I won't take more than a day off. Pinky promise!

Plz follow, fave, and review fairly, and i'll see you all later for the rest of Untold Heroes.


	19. Chapter 18: Guarding the light

Disclaimer: i only own OCs. whoever owns SAO, it's not me.

Chapter 18: Guarding the light.

 _Top floor: 63. Players surviving: 6,923._

"And since there is a small time gap between their HP dropping and their death, you have time to sheath your sword turn around, and-"

"Ben!" Gorgamith yelled. "Are you going to tell me what the rat said or not?" Ben frowned. "You mean Argo? Ohhh, that was what we were talking about… OK, Argo said, and I had to pay for this by the way, that there's an event on the 53rd floor. She gave me co-ordinates, but I don't know what's there, other than an item that really helps shield users. She wouldn't tell me more unless I paid more but… maybe it's a shield?"

"Your logic astounds me." Gorgamith took his weight off the shield he was leaning on and began to leave the market where he had encountered his guild mate. "Hey Ben?" He called over his shoulder. "Check up on Serena, K?" Ben smiled, and Gorgamith could see the bad joke coming. "Well of course, GG. After all, it's my solemn duty to keep an _eye_ on a team mate." Sighing to himself, Gorgamith walked towards the teleport gate.

Gorgamith paused, leaning against the trunk of a dead tree as he surveyed the desert landscape around him. He remembered this floor. Clearing it had been _painful._ He glanced at the map Ben had supplied, noting that he was about a kilometre north of his intended target. Sighing he pushed himself up and began to walk.

He hadn't gotten far, however, before he came across some players wandering dejectedly in the opposite direction. He raised an eyebrow at them as he passed. "Trouble grinding?" The lead player shook his head. "We tried- and failed- the shield user challenge." Gorgamith stopped. "Wait, you don't have a shield?" That earned him a wry laugh as the group walked past. "Not anymore pal. Not anymore." _Well isn't that reassuring_. Gorgamith thought, as a cave began to appear in the distance.

He placed a foot into the shadow of the cave, and immediately noted the pop-up in the corner of his view identifying his entrance into a dungeon. The map put him at the right co-ordinates, so he could only assume that he had reached his destination. He unhooked his cleaver, raised his shield, and-

"Attempting the challenge alone?" The voice came from behind Gorgamith and he spun around, only noticing his tension when he got a chance to release it, and saw a grey haired man in red armour with a white shield. It only took him a second to place the image. "Heathcliff?" A split second later, his shock increased. "You speak English?"

The Knights of the Blood Oath's leader nodded. "In my job in real life, it is, was, important to keep in contact with our friends in the west. Well, Gorgamith of the Adamant guard, I say again, it is rare to see you without the assistance of your guild mates."

Gorgamith resisted the urge to shrug; Heathcliff gave off the air of a school head teacher, the type of person you want to be nice and respectable around. "This dungeon is meant to challenge shield users. People who _aren't_ might be put in serious danger."  
"An astute analysis." Heathcliff replied. "I myself would have brought a team of tank class knights with me. However, the reports coming in from our informants suggest that the amount of players seems to have little impact on how close the teams came to success."

Gorgamith raised an eyebrow. "How _close_ they came? No-one made it?"

Heathcliff shook his head. "And yet most survived. I must confess to being curious. Still, as the two strongest shield wielders, I suppose that we have the best chance out of anyone." Gorgamith thought about it. He didn't know how two people could share what most of the NPC's seemed to think was one item. (Unless, as Ben joked when discussing rare drops, 'one person got the 1s and the other gets the 0s.') But it would be interesting experience to fight knowing that his companion could defend himself, an experience generally denied him since moving his shield from between him and Serena _wasn't an option._ He came back to the present, where Heathcliff was waiting expectantly. "Sure." Gorgamith said. "Let's see what this dungeon has in store. That was not a deliberate rhyme."

 _Well this is boring._ Was Gorgamith's thought after they ran into the fifth stone golem in the dungeon's hallways. "Wouldn't a smart game designer put mobs with high attack in a 'Shield user' challenge?" He called to Heathcliff, as he hacked a tiny chunk off of the thing's HP. Heathcliff shield charged the monster again dealing little damage to the defensive opponent, but shoving it towards the wall. "Perhaps." Came the reply. "Maybe Kayaba was focusing on something besides the basic dungeon mobs? Or there's a reason we're being put through this drudgery? Or both?" Gorgamith acknowledged the point and bore another strike from a stone fist on his shield, then brought his cleaver up and struck the head off the golem, which landed with a thud shortly before the rest of the body.

He turned towards the door that opened into the boss room. Then he wondered why people always paused at boss doorways, and pushed through. The room inside was relatively well lit, shafts of light piercing through the ceiling to illuminate a sandy chamber, 30 metres in radius, apparently empty, apart from a stone pedestal in the centre. Atop it, glimmering in the faint light, was a gilded shield. It was kept in shadow, but despite this, the golden runes inlaid around the edges still managed to give off a faint gleam, as did the large white diamond in the centre. It appeared more ceremonial than practical, but in a videogame Gorgamith knew such items were often the best available.

"Well." He commented. "This looks far too easy." No sooner had the words come out of his mouth than the shafts of light began to flicker. He looked up and saw what should have been open air, was it not for a giant spider covering the aperture.

Gorgamith barely noticed an alert pop up at the edge of his view before a leg tipped with steel stabbed downwards towards him, colliding off of his shield in a shower of sparks. He attempted to retaliate but the leg had darted up out of reach, replaced by another a few seconds later. He used the moment's reprieve to take in the threat, and was awed by the _size_ of the thing, the room was 60 metres wide and the massive arachnid had to arch its eight limbs in order to fit into the space. Gorgamith raised his shield high over his head and moved towards Heathcliff, who had followed him in and was now also having similar difficulties. "Inventory lock!" The knight yelled over the screeches of the spider and the relentless pounding of the limbs. "We can't access our inventory while we're in here!" That was confusing. Inventory lock bosses' main problem was the inability to get more health potions later on in the fight. Of all the classes, the tanks were probably the least likely to be affected with their high defence and regeneration. _Unless…_ Gorgamith used a basic appraisal skill to check the durability of his shield, and noted that it had dropped by 15% since the start of the fight. He turned back to Heathcliff. "It pounds on our shields durability until they break! If they do, without being able to access our inventory, we're sitting ducks!"

Heathcliff nodded. "I can't hit that spider, it's too high up! We just have to get the item and run!"

Gorgamith nodded, and pressed forwards, only now noting the slight incline as he moved towards the centre of the room. When he moved ten of the 30 metres between him and the pedestal, he heard a hideous chattering from above. Looking past the rim of his shield, he saw the bulbous skin of the spider's body peel back to reveal even more legs that began raining down. Gorgamith staggered under the doubled onslaught, and then continued his advance.

Behind him, he heard a hum, and saw Heathcliff activating his much vaunted 'divine blade' skill. He had no such ability, and was put under serious pressure from the attacks. He took one step, then another, then faltered, cursing one of the many annoyances of virtual reality: Your health may not drop, but if you tanked too many hits you still felt seriously fatigued. He looked at the appraisal window he had left up, and saw that his shield was about to break. Was he really going to die to a boss he couldn't touch?

Heathcliff's voice, unusually strained yelled, "Where's an archer when we need one!" _Serena._ Gorgamith thought dimly. But she wasn't here. At least there was that… But an iron determination kindled inside him, a sense of purpose he had only before found in emergency mode, (Adamant's name for it was surprisingly apt) but now it was fuelled by his emotions, rather than suppressing them. Serena _wasn't even here._ If he was going to die, he would die protecting his friends. He was _not_ going to die for some stupid shield! He looked back up at the spider, into its dozen pale, clouded eyes. Eyes that only ever looked downwards. He looked down himself, seeing the flickering shadows in amongst the shafts of light, and the shield, glimmering faintly in what little light reached it, situated as it was beneath the mass of the spider's body. He had an idea, and crazy as it seemed it was his only real hope. He sidestepped one final attack from the darting legs, and hurled his shield.

It flew through the air, the sharpened point of the rim knifing towards the pedestal. It hit the reward with a crack, disintegrating as the impact removed the rest of its durability. But, the impact sent the gilded shield spinning through the air, the leftover momentum inching it out of the shadow and into direct sunlight. As the rays fell onto the diamond in the centre of the shield, they seemed to concentrate within it, and flash out at a right angle to the surface. As it spun one last time before clanging to the ground, the reflected ray flickered, and shone directly into the great arachnid's eyes. With an ear splitting shriek the monster convulsed, curling into a ball to protect its eyes from the light, consequently dropping like a, well, a dozen tonne object that suddenly _wasn't_ braced against the wall.

Gorgamith was already moving, diving out of the shadow just before the spider hit the floor with a thud. The landing knocked a small chunk from its HP bar, and its name was finally visible: Arach, shadow weaver. Gorgamith didn't notice until later, he snatched up the new shield and unhooked his cleaver. _Now_ he could start being productive.

Arach lashed out again with his leg, and Gorgamith again blocked it on his shield. The boss wouldn't let him get close enough to strike at its head or torso. He no longer felt as hopeless as he had at the start, but the fight was frustrating him, and began to miss having a group of faster units to deal damage for him. The gem in his shield, which seemed to have been glowing gradually brighter the whole fight, flashed into a rainbow hue just as he was about to block another strike. As he prepared to strike with his shield, a sphere of light emanated from it and struck Arach in the eyes, stunning it and dropping its health dramatically.

Not one to waste an opportunity, Gorgamith charged his cleaver with a sword skill and hacked down on one of the twitching limbs, severing it at the joint. The boss, now barely protected, could do little as Gorgamith charged in, hacking at its eyes and mouth until it gave a spine chilling shriek and disintegrated into a myriad of blue shards.

Gorgamith sighed and slumped to the ground, panting heavily. _Now that_. He thought to himself. _Was not something I'd like to solo again._ But he hadn't soloed it, as he was reminded as Heathcliff walked up, clapping. "An impressive performance, Gorgamith." He praised, lending a hand to his companion and hauling him to his feet. "What gave you the inspiration to throw your shield?" Gorgamith shrugged, noting what a near death experience did to your sense of manners. "I guess I just refused to die for no real purpose." Heathcliff motioned him to continue. "I'm a tank. It's my job to put myself in the line of fire to protect others. My friends in my guild are people I'd die for. Serena especially."

Heathcliff raised an eyebrow. "The blind bow-woman? She is… special to you?"

Gorgamith chuckled to himself. "I guess. My sister was one of the first two hundred people to die. I… kinda lost it. But a few floors later, there Serena was. Blindfolded, hopping about a swamp because she thought it was her responsibility to help me out, and _Heck_ did she remind me of my little Josie. Is it weird to see her as an outlet for 'brotherly protectiveness? Probably. But the way I see it, people like Serena make the real world a bit brighter. So I make it my job to get her back to that world."

They stood in silence for a few seconds, Heathcliff seeming to process what Gorgamith had said, before replying. "I always respect people who are willing to protect others. But I haven't met someone such a noble a mind set for a while. I don't suppose you'd consider a position with the Knights of the Blood Oath?"

Gorgamith laughed aloud. "No offense, but not on your life." For the first time Gorgamith had seen, a hint of a smile appeared on the guild leader's face. "I understand." Heathcliff explained. "But just so you know, the reason everyone survived this challenge is because apparently the boss stops attacking once your shield breaks, as long as you stay away from the gilded shield."

Gorgamith sighed. "So it was just protecting its treasure. Well now I need to get out of this desert, I need to get something to eat, and _then_ I need to find out what this new toy is capable of."

Soooorry it took so long to get this one out. Pro tip: youtube and inspiration don't mix. seeing as my chapters are steadily growing i doubt i will be able to keep up daily uploads for much longer, but i will try my best especially if you follow, favourite, and review fairly. See what i did there?


	20. Chapter 19: Innocence

disclaimer: I only own OCs. whoever owns SAO. (or marvel or DC i guess.) It's not me.

Chapter 19: Innocence

Jade gave an experimental twirl and looked at herself in the mirror. "Hey Serena!" She called. "Do you think the dress looks nice?" There was a muffled sigh from outside the cubicle. "Jade." Came the response. "I can detect that you're wearing 'red plait dress,' but I can't see it through a curtain. Funnily enough, I can't see it _period."_ Jade rolled her eyes, looked critically at the dress, and then pressed accept on the purchase window, before re-equipping her Adamant Guard uniform. "How on earth," She muttered to herself. "Did I end up in a guild with _one_ other girl who doesn't even care about what she wears?"

Jade hadn't counted on Serena's enhanced hearing. "I do care." The blind girl countered from where she was leaning on the cubicle wall. "I care about them being comfy and unrestricting, which my current clothes manage quite fine. I wish I was with the boys." Jade chuckled as she swept aside the curtain and wandered back into the shop. "Adamant and co.? They're probably trying to out macho each other while having an arm wrestle." She rolled her eyes again. "Boys."

 _500 metres away._

"Batman. Obviously. Why is there even an argument?" Adamant stated, watching Ben and Bulltrue play rock-paper-scissors for the 21st time. Gorgamith sighed. "Deadpool can heal _anything_ Batman throws him. Why do you have a problem with this?" Adamant sighed. "Because he's _Batman!_ He can nick Deadpool's carbonadium sword and out-fight him with it." Ben paused after winning the 21st round in a row to bang his head against the table. "We're in a Virtual Reality videogame and the only thing we can think to do while the girls are gone is have geek debates!"

"And keep losing at rock paper scissors!" Bulltrue interrupted.

"Yeah, because you always pick scissors." Ben countered, not stopping. "Either way, I'd rather be in a room with a chick population higher than zero." Bulltrue laughed aloud. "Please say you aren't serious. Jade and Serena will be…. Uh…. Making daisy chains or something." He rolled his eyes. "Girls."

 _Somewhere between the two._

 _"Let them go!"_ Sasha yelled as she saw a group of soldiers surrounding four children at the bottom of an alleyway. The group's leader smiled at her, trying and failing to hide his malice behind a pleasant grin. " _I'm sorry miss, but these players are under the protection of the Aincrad Liberation Front, and are expected to pay the toll."_ Sasha glowered at him, then looked past to the children, most of whom were terrified, but the youngest, a child she didn't recognise, seemed oddly curious. _"Children!"_ She called to them. _"Give them your armour and weapons and they won't hurt you!"_

 _"We tried Miss Sasha!"_ The eldest called back. _"But they said it wasn't good enough!"_ Sasha glared with renewed hatred at the ALF leader, who shrugged. " _If they won't go and get some loot from monsters, it's understandable that they can't afford to pay up."_

Sasha was about to retort when she heard a series of sounds echoing in from the alley she had turned down. The yells from one direction sounded distinctly feminine, while shouts from another sounded… a little less so, but all of them were incomprehensible to her. To the shock of everyone in the back street, the shouts grew louder before culminating as a pair of females and a group of boys crashed into each other.

Mumbling to himself, Ben got up, dusting off his armour,, before taking in the scene before him, noting the Aincrad Liberation Front. (ALF) soldiers. " _Oh hey! You guys! I take it you've just helped these little kids with grinding right?"_ Ben shouted in Japanese. _"I mean, they don't need your 'protection' in a safe zone, so it's only logical that they would be under your 'protection' while out in the wilds, right?"_ He turned behind him to the hastily assembled guild. "I'll keep bargaining," He said in English. "You start stealing their bargaining chips. Sound good?" Jade had already started moving, sprinting towards and jumping over the half dozen soldiers to land between them and the children, rapier poised.

Jade was reminded how intimidating her albino features could appear as some of the soldiers seemed to falter in there bravado slightly. Their leader laughed, and said something haughty sounding in Japanese which Ben translated to: "He finds it funny that you're trying to threaten him in a safe zone."

Adamant chuckled. "He may find it funny," He said, "but that doesn't mean it isn't working." He got up from where he was leaning against a wall and moved to the front of the group, unsheathing his katana. Many of the soldiers gasped or flinched.

If there was one useful thing his father had taught him, it was keeping up a good reputation. When most of the players (being Japanese) don't speak the same language as you, (and even Argo the rat had no interesting secrets about you,) you develop a serious aura of mystery. It was an in-guild joke to treat him with an air of deference whenever around others, and Ben had laughed about rumours placing him as a prince IRL, or a game-master in disguise. The only things confirmed were that he wore a black hat with a yellow feather, possessed the rarest familiar in the game, had _two_ unique sword skills, and was quite possibly the greatest swordsman in the game. The result? He wouldn't be surprised if some of the soldiers needed to clean their trousers.

"Ben." He said, not looking behind him. "Please inform these fine gentlemen that if they don't move we will take them out of the city, disarm them and throw them to the boars." He grinned, having no intention of doing any such thing, but keeping up the act. "I really doubt that they're all too levelled, since they spend their time terrorising kids in the starting city." Ben translated, and the faces grew even more worried. Their leader, however, through courage or stupidity, showed no signs of going anywhere. Adamant sighed. "Alright, screw it. Serena, batman time!"

The archer, who had stationed herself on the roof overlooking the conversation, took that as her cue and hurled a smoke bomb down into the disorganised group of soldiers. She leapt down towards the children and gave a small whistle, attracting their attention, and made a 'follow me' gesture, then ran down another alleyway no longer guarded by the soldiers. With Serena in front and Jade behind, the troop of children were quickly hustled away from the conflict, as sounds of violence emanated from the alleyway behind them.

It wasn't long before the rest of the guild joined Serena and Jade, with a triumphant look on their faces. "Well" Ben stated, the first to reach the centre of the town where the girls had finished their retreat. "I think it's safe to say that they aren't going to be bullying anyone anytime soon, or at least until they buy some replacement leg armour to cover up their newly revealed boxers." Adamant, the next to arrive, sighed at Jade's questioning look. "Health doesn't drop in a safe zone, but armour durability does. Ben wouldn't stop until he showed _all_ their underwear." Ben grinned as the girls groaned and the children looked up in confusion.

The guild's resident translator turned to the quartet of youngsters. " _Hey midgets,"_ Ben asked in Japanese. " _Can you make it back to Miss Sasha without us?"_ Three of them nodded and began to run towards the church at the side of the courtyard, but the fourth, youngest child shook her head. " _I want to stay with you!"_ The response shocked Ben, but Serena interrupted. "Ben, why are you talking to yourself in a little girl voice?"

"Uuuh…" Ben looked at her, confused, before the girl spoke, in English this time. "He's not talking, I am! My name is Yui!" Ben appraised the young, apparently bilingual girl with newfound interest, noting her black hair, black eyes and white dress. Serena, however, jumped out of her skin. "Holy mother of… what is talking?"

Yui looked at her in confusion. "Can't you see me?" Then she broke out in giggles. "You're wearing a blindfold, silly! Do you always do that? What's it like for everything to be dark all the time?"

Before Serena could work out why this young girl was 'invisible' to her, Ben interrupted.

"Close your eyes!" He suggested wryly. Yui obliged, and a giant smile spread across her face. Adamant, who had been stood thinking for a while, turned to her. "Okay, let's hope my school French lessons paid off: _Quel age á tu Yui?"_ The little girl opened her eyes and looked at him. " _Je ne sais pas, mais je ne ancienne pas."_ Jade whistled appreciatively. "Why do I get the feeling that if we talked in any language she'd understand us?"

Serena, who had been stood in intense concentration, using every skill she possessed to try and detect the young girl, gave up and said. "Uuh, guys and girls, I can't pick her up with echolocation. The only other person that I _couldn't_ detect before was Heathcliff, and I presumed it was because he has a trait that blocks harmful effects."

Bulltrue frowned. "What does that mean?"

Serena blew out a breath. "Well, this Yui girl has; no player name, no health bar, nothing equipped or held in her inventory, (heck, she doesn't seem to have an inventory,) makes no noise when she or her clothes move, doesn't possess any scent at all, can't be picked up by echolocation, speaks at least three languages, and (if I understood Adamant's French correctly,) doesn't know her age, but isn't ancient. So sorry, but I have no idea what that means."

Bulltrue kept frowning. "You used lots of big words there I don't know what you said."

"What she said," Gorgamith interrupted, peering down at the innocent seeming girl. "Is that Yui isn't a normal player."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

AAAAw yeah, it's everyone's favourite character. Please note, that this is occuring _before_ Kirito finds Yui, not _instead_ of it.

please favourite, follow, and review fairly, next chapter, honesty, out tommorow _or_ tuesday. due to tests, regular daily chapters will be hard, but i'll try to get chapters out every two.


	21. Chapter 20: Honesty

Disclaimer: I only own OC's. whoever owns SAO, it's not me.

Chapter 20: Honesty

"So to recap." Ben stated. "You _didn't_ enter the game with your parents?" Yui shook her head. "I don't think so… but I did maybe!"

Adamant tried. "Do you know who your parents are?" Yui just stood looking confused.

It was Gorgamith's turn. "Are you an NPC?" Yui shook her head, and Gorgamith shrugged. "No Player Control units are all programmed to say yes."

Next was Bulltrue. "Did you see that one you-tube video where the cat RKO'd the-"

"BULLTRUE!" The group chorused. They had been taking it in turns to question the vexing little girl and had only come up with head shakes, confused looks, and inconclusive answers. Serena, who had been stood thinking for a while, spoke. "Yui, why did you want to stay with us?" The girl looked at her and smiled. "Because you people are important!"

There was a pause. "Uuuh, could you elaborate please?" Serena asked. Yui shook her head. "Not really. I don't know why you're important, or how I know. I just…. Know."

Jade caught on to Serena's angle. "Is there anything else you… just know?"

Yui closed her eyes and tensed, looking the perfect image of a small girl thinking really hard. "I think… I think…" Her eyes opened, alight with apparent purpose. "Floor 51! I have to go there. It's important. You have to come too!" She leapt off her perch on the fountain the group had gathered around, and ran towards the teleport gate. The Adamant Guard looked at each other. "I'm curious." Adamant volunteered. One by one, the party members nodded, and then ran after the fleeing child.

"Okay, seriously, I bet 500 col that she's a quest NPC." Ben said to the group at large as they stood before a large imposing castle ruin. "I'll take that bet." Adamant said, offering Ben his hand to shake as he glanced down at Yui. "You're sure this is the place?" Yui nodded, and walked towards the door, but Jade put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey." She said, kneeling to make proper eye contact with the child. "This could be dangerous. If things get problematic, stay behind us, Ok?" Yui gave a solemn nod, paused for a second, and then started smiling. "Okay! I'll just watch and learn!" Adamant chuckled at the thought of the girl ' _learning_ ' to swordfight, before moving inside the structure.

"This way!" Yui called out, before disappearing down another passage. The group sighed and followed. The ruin had appeared small, but had soon broken off into a bunch of intersecting passageways, a labyrinth that Yui happened to be able to navigate without difficulty. ("What a coincidence!" Ben had cried out.) Needless to say, Adamant was already beginning to regret his bet.

He sidled over to Jade as they walked, the albino seeming lost in her own world. "Penny for your thoughts?" He asked.

She gave him a sidelong glance. "That hasn't been a phrase since Enid Blyton wrote her Famous Five books. As in, dinosaur times."

Adamant gave her a look of mock surprise. "Wait, you read Enid Blyton? You read? I thought I was the only one left to use books for entertainment! But the question still stands."

Jade shrugged. "To be honest, she seems like a normal, 7 year old girl. I'm getting protective big sister instincts and I've never had a little sister, or cousin for that matter. But she almost seems..." She trailed off, and Adamant raised an eyebrow and motioned her to continue. "She almost seems _too_ perfect. Like she's choosing from stock responses that seem to fit the 'adorable little girl' role."

Adamant nodded, thinking on it. "Yeah… there are three little kids who often come over to my house IRL- at least, they _came_ \- and even though they were young and undeveloped, they all had distinct personalities. One was a troublemaker who really liked hugs, another was incredibly curious, but Yui… it's like she has all the features of a normal girl, but nothing that makes her unique."

"Except being tri-lingual."

"Yeah"

"And being invisible to blind people."

Adamant chuckled. "That too."

Ben leaned his head closer. "And being an MLG quick-scoper!" His smile fell under the withering looks of his two teammates, and he shrugged, turning away and muttering under his breath.

Their discussion was interrupted by Yui jumping up and down in front of an apparently normal section of wall. Serena frowned. "Uuh, Yui, are you sure that is it? Not the boss door down the corridor? Because my awareness is at max and I can't notice anything-" Yui placed her hand on the wall and it began to hum.

"…there…" Serena finished, slack jawed. She couldn't _see_ the yellow 0s and 1s flickering across the door, but she could feel the vibrations, experience the artificial heat coming off, and, (with aid of her echolocation,) confirm that the wall was just… dissolving.

Without needing to be told, everyone there drew their weapons, and with Adamant at the head, moved into the room beyond. Unlike most boss rooms, this place was a simple, white cube, 20 metres in diameter. It was bright enough inside, but, in the centre, was a pulsating mass of darkness. Squinting, Adamant was able to discern that it was an object, rather than an _absence_ of light, and every instinct he had gained from videogames told him that the object was going to be a boss for him to fight. He sighed and whistled to Serena, who drew an arrow and fired at the dark mass. However, the moment the arrow was loosed, the mass flickered and changed, morphing into a copy of Serena, accurate except for the total black skin and clothes, and eyes glowing red even through its blindfold.

At once, the copy leapt to the side, easily dodging the shaft, and its name became visible: 'Ditto' above a single health bar, surprisingly low health for a boss halfway up the game. Ben opened his mouth to launch a suitably witty comment, but was stopped by an arrow wreathed in fire blazing towards him.

ooooh, drama!next chapter, creativity, up Friday. see y'all!


	22. Chapter 21: Creativity

Disclaimer: i only own OC's. whoever owns SAO, it's not me.

Chapter 21: Creativity.

Everyone leapt to the side, Jade grabbing Yui and sprinting halfway across the length of the room before letting down the small child. She pointed a finger between Yui's eyes. "Don't move unless it attacks you." At Yui's nod, she turned and dashed towards Ditto, Serena's demon copy rapidly trading arrows with its counterpart. Jade crossed the distance at rapid speed, rapier poised to strike at the Ditto's chest. Upon her approach, the figure flashed into a different form, and Jade was presented with the disconcerting image of an almost identical copy of herself; barring the hair, skin and clothes (which were coloured a deep black) and its eyes (despite being a similar crimson, the whites and pupils were also tinted red, giving the being an inhuman look.)

A split second before impact, Ditto brought up an identical rapier and blocked the blow, before engaging in a short lived duel with the true Jade, a duel ended by its fist flashing out and crashing into her jaw, sending her stumbling backwards.

Ben sprinted in next, (Bulltrue close behind), and lashed out with his khopesh; Ditto blurred into a copy of Ben, and turned the strike away, moving with immense speed and tripping the fighter, before flashing into a copy of Bulltrue and matching the enraged warrior's horizontal swing, knocking him back.

Gorgamith shield charged Ditto, hoping to unbalance the boss, but after another flash he was met by a defence as indomitable as his own, and was pushed backwards.

Adamant, who had been stood observing the battle until then, immersed himself in the iron logic of his quasi-emergency mode, and stabbed his blade into the ground, the runes spreading across the floor as his 'iron field' move took full effect. He charged Ditto, launching a series of slashes, but the boss flickered into _his_ visage, hat and all, with the _feather_ glowing the same red as his eyes. The overwhelming anger this produced jolted him straight back into full feeling, not before noting that 1: the appearance switching was an inherent ability, (not a skill) because it resisted the skill dampening effects of his move, and 2: It also seemed to mimic his exact trait set up, but just faster and stronger.

Adamant whistled for Dylan to attack, but the boss' programmers had thought of that, and after a flash a pure black dragon raked it's claws at the original, kicking it away after a short struggle. "Gorgamith! Buy me a minute!" Adamant yelled, sheathing his katana and falling back to group up with the others.

"What can we do?" He said. "Whoever hits it, it responds faster and with more force."

"Maybe people can do better than A.I's!" The team whirled to Yui, who had approached amid the confusion. Jade was about to reprimand the child, but Ben raised a hand to silence her rebuke. "What did you say?" He asked Yui.

The girl just smiled. "You people have done things that should be impossible right? Beat the numbers? It might be just thinking outside the box, or it could be something special, but it's something humans can do that A.I's can't!" The group stared at the child, then at each other, then at Ben, who began fervently manipulating his inventory, then directly at Adamant, who had a gleam in his eyes. "Dylan." He murmured, almost to himself. "I'm gonna have to ask you to stay back for this one, K? If being a human is the only way to beat this thing, well… I don't want you getting hurt." The familiar gave a squawk and leapt from its masters back to land on the floor. Adamant turned to the boss. "Always wanted to fight someone just as good as me…" He mused, unsheathing WyrmEdge.

Gorgamith panted; annoyed at the turn his duel had taken. He and Ditto were essentially taking turns bashing at each other's shields, a situation that left him deeply at a disadvantage, as _somehow_ it surpassed both his strength and stamina. He grimaced as he blocked another blow, the lower half of his view taken up by his shield, and couldn't help but notice how the polished metal surface of his shield reflected an almost perfect copy of his face back at him. _A reflection…._  
"Switch!" The call came from behind him, jolting him out of his reverie, and he delivered a last shield bash before backpedalling rapidly. Adamant passed him in a flash of golden fire, dashing towards Ditto, who had taken up Adamant's semblance and was glowing with red flames.

The two clashed in a furious flurry of sparks, steel, and flame, matching each other stroke for stroke as they gradually circled each other with katanas flashing between them. Adamant stared into the soulless red orbs. He doubted that it _felt_ any emotions, but it's opponent grinning almost madly couldn't be a usual occurrence.

Of course Adamant had known that Ditto would match his Wyvern's tooth, but the skill put him in the _mood._ He never enjoyed himself more than in a difficult fight, and this was the epitome. He analysed Ditto's technique, and found it to be just what he expected from a well programmed A.I: Precise, efficient, and lethal. Most A.I's had the problem of being too predictable, responding instantly to an opponent's moves, but unable to _predict_ them, unlike their adversary.

Ditto, however, could and did predict your actions, or at least, know the best technique to use in the situation, causing the stalemate that they were stuck in. The only solution? Do something so mind numbingly stupid no A.I would ever think of it.

And so, when the optimum decision would be a slice upwards to disable the neck pierce Ditto launched, Adamant leaned backwards, and brought up his right foot. The kick slammed the blade upwards, then continued round in a circle, Adamant spinning through with a standing backwards cartwheel. The boss jerked back in surprise, but before it could react, Adamant brought his sword in an arc, cutting a hole in Ditto's midsection. He allowed himself a moment to cherish the sight of its health bar finally dropping, and then launched himself backwards, calling "Switch!"

"Hold on hold on hold on I gotta try something!" Ben yelled as he planted himself firmly in front of the Boss, and then turned to Gorgamith, whom he had been in a frantic conversation with since Adamant had claimed the boss' agro. "Now GG!" Gorgamith hurled his shield towards his guild-mate, who, despite his comparatively diminutive stature, caught it with ease and flipped it around.

 _Ditto experienced a moment of confusion. Its target, .Ben, had disappeared from visual sensors, replaced by_ _a blacked out player model with no player I.D. It considered the possibility of it being a combat skill, but no skills that matched it were in its database. Ditto concluded that it was a system error that .Akihiko Kayaba had predicted might occur, and resolved to mimic the target's actions as per usual._

Ben grinned behind him at the group of stunned onlookers. "Okay seriously." He asked. "None of you wondered what would happen if a boss mimics what it sees, then sees its own reflection?" He kept smiling at them for a few seconds, and then sighed and raised an eyebrow. "…Are you going to attack it then? When you get behind it, it'll think you're in front!"

The group needed no further encouragement. Flanking around Ditto's sides and back, they moved into a semicircle formation.

Adamant struck the confused boss from behind, who had thought that their reflection in the shield several metres in front of it was their real location. Unfortunately, it wasn't _totally_ stupid. The moment the damage registered on its health bar it spun around, transforming back into Adamant's visage and slashing diagonally, pushing him backwards from the sheer force of it. "Ben! Shield!" He yelled. "Everyone else, surround it!"

"Heeeeeaaads UP!" Ben yelled, hurling the shield through the air. Adamant caught it, repelled Ditto with a swift bash, and flipped the shield, once again making the boss see itself, and it kept to a defensive position as the mirror copy did as well. This time, Bulltrue charged in from behind (but apparently from the front for Ditto) and impaled the boss, yelling "Shield!" before withdrawing the blade and hurling it behind him to catch the incoming shield.

Gorgamith was next, aiming for the neck of the boss and cutting a chunk off of its health bar. He almost fumbled catching the shield whilst blocking Ditto's counterattack, but once the shield was safely in his hands he had no trouble defending against the onslaught and flipping over the reflective side of the shield.

Jade barely waited until Ditto had fully targeted its own reflection before moving in behind it, and crisscrossing the boss' back with thrusts and slashes from her rapier that removed more of its health. Her unimpressive strength stat was barely enough to let her catch the large shield. She staggered under the weight of it, but was able to hold up the reflective surface and maintain the illusion.

Serena moved to behind the boss and nocked her combustion arrow, drawing to maximum extension and aiming directly at Ditto's head.

And then, everything decided to go wrong.

 _Ditto observed that .Serena had launched a 'combustion shot' skill. Designating her as the most immediate threat, due to her use of a ranged attack; it switched to her visage and fired a more powerful shot back._

Serena gaped as Ditto transformed into _her_ and fired at what she could only assume was her location in the mirror. The shot exploded when it hit the shield, and Jade's strength stat, barely enough to let her carry the shield, wasn't enough to stop it careening out of her hands.

Ditto staggered as Serena's own arrow exploded in its back, then spun around as its health dropped to near zero. It zeroed in on Serena again. She swore, drew another arrow and fired, but her copy had already loosed his own shot; which blasted past her arrow and towards her throat. She froze; knowing she wouldn't survive the shot, and simultaneously…

There was a flash of white in front of her…

Ditto took her shot in the chest, which blew the boss into blue fragments…

The arrow flew over Serena's head…

And she collapsed to the floor, dazed, winded, with _something_ on top of her, but alive.

three chapters in my 'Yui arc' and three cliffhangers. the fourth will tie up the loose ends though.

Sorry i said friday and delivered late saturday, but just try writing about: character, character's reflection, character's doppleganger, and character's doppleganger's reflection, _FOR SIX CHARACTERS_ (plus one Yui) Whateever, next chapter, 'freedom', WILL be up by tuesday, or just ignore these time promises. so much for daily uploads, huh?


	23. Chapter 22: Freedom

Disclaimer: I only own OC's. whoever owns SAO, it's not me.

Chapter 22: Freedom.

Serena groaned, rubbing her forehead and clicking frantically to trigger her echolocation. The vaguely human shaped form crushing her had no player I.D, didn't show up on her echolocation, and was undetectable in every single other way. Of course she knew exactly who it was. "Yui?" She said. There was a girly giggle, and Yui rolled off her, making her 'invisible' to the blind archer, but Jade yelling "Hey, where are you going!" Was enough to clue her in on what happened next.

The group rose and ran after Yui, who disappeared into an anti-chamber at the side of the room, one that hadn't been there before… They entered the room to find it white and well lit, with a strange cuboid in the centre. The cuboid was black, had yellow pulsing lines running across it, and Yui, perched on top without a care in the world. "Oh hi!" She said, smiling. "Sorry about making you come in here. It doesn't exactly fit the medieval theme, does it?" The Adamant Guard once again found themselves taken aback by the girl, Ben only managing to stutter out "uuh… yeah, I guess?" Yui giggled. "You look so funny with your mouths hanging open! Anyway, you probably realised I'm not a normal player. I'm an A.I construct built to monitor and assist players' mental states in the game, codename Yui." She giggled again at the gobsmacked faces of the guild. "Yeah, it's kinda strange. Anyway, for some reason the game master banned me from interacting with the players. I just had to watch… watch people suffer…" Her smile dimmed a little as she spoke, before returning to its usual megawatt voltage. "Then I was told about you people! That I was supposed to watch how you dealt with impossible situations!"

Adamant frowned. "The game master cares about us?"

Yui nodded. "He finds you all really interesting, because you keep breaking the game! He built the _reflection construct_ boss type to test you, it should be physically unbeatable, but you beat it because you fought it differently to how you're supposed to! Your psychologies are fascinating, there isn't anyone else like you all except-" She froze, then giggled. "Sorry. There are some things the GM wants to keep hidden."

There was a pause. "Uuh…" Serena said. "If this was a test, why did you interrupt it to save my life back there?" The little girl shrugged. "As the game master allowed me to interact with you specifically, I assumed that I was permitted to act in the way that best maintained your mental states. As you had already passed the test, I concluded that maintaining a fair test environment was unnecessary and your death would have dramatically negative repercussions on the mentalities of the rest of your team. As I have admin privileges, I am an immortal object, and cannot take damage!"

Adamant frowned. "It'll take me a while to digest this information, but, what happens now?"

Yui sighed. "This encounter is an exception to the rule. I'm still not supposed to interact with people." She gestured to the cuboid she sat on. "I'm supposed to dissolve my in-game avatar and return to my omnipresent state."

Bulltrue gave a confused "Huh?" But Gorgamith understood well enough. "You're going to go back to watching people in pain." Yui nodded, biting her lip in a perfect simulation of a little girl trying not to cry.  
Adamant sighed. I'm _gonna have an empathic conversation with a robot…_ He put a hand on Yui's shoulder. "Besides watching people suffer, is there something you'd prefer to do with your time?" Yui shut her eyes and considered the question. "The game master quarantining me interrupts my primary programming, to help people. But I can't knowingly disobey a direct admin order, especially the game master, his I.D outranks everything. I've already filed a request to be allowed to interact with the players again, but he turned it down." She looked up at him. "I know what I would like to do, there are two players I find almost as interesting as you people, but I can't think of any way to defy the GM." Adamant gave her a sly smile. "Really? Well maybe you need to think outside the box…"

 _Floor 22, sometime later…_

"So, please recap primary objectives." Gorgamith said, looking down at the little girl. Yui turned away from the forest in front of her and smiled. "Move to the position I conclude is the most likely intercept point for players Asuna and Kirito, and perform a system reset to be unaware of the game masters quarantine order. Then I will initiate player interaction program #379, and try to see how those players keep making people happy! If I do, then I get my memory back!"

Gorgamith nodded. "Seems about right. Good luck kiddo." Yui smiled at each of them in turn, then, unexpectedly, ran forwards to envelop Serena in a crushing hug. "You know my emotions aren't technically real." Yui said, softly. "But it satisfies my programming to help people, so…"

Serena smiled down at her. "It's real enough, invisible girl. It's real enough." Yui detached, gave the Guild one last look, and disappeared into the forest.

"So let me get this straight." Jade said much later, as the group discussed the day's events over dinner. "You convinced Yui to remove her memory of her restriction, and now she can't remember it until she does the one thing she really wants to do?" The albino raised an eyebrow. "Sounds an awful lot like a certain mental problem someone might have…."

Adamant sighed. "Emergency mode is a _skill,_ not a _mental problem._ And, yes, it was what gave me the idea, but…" He turned his gaze to the table-top. "If she does re-establish contact with the game master, she'll be in for a rude awakening. She'll be able to access all the information she submitted to the GM, and every order he gave her, but… she won't remember any of us. Not personally, at least."

There was a long pause as everyone absorbed the news, before Serena spoke up. "Well I think it was a smart move, and she's going to end up happier because of it. It's kinda nice that people code A.I's that are programmed to make people happy. That's why we aren't going to have a terminator style apocalypse, and I don't want _any_ of those 12 movies happening."

Bulltrue frowned. "I still don't get it. Why would Yui want to talk to Kiri-toes and Asu-whatsits?"

The group looked at Ben, who shrugged and folded his arms behind his head, smiling. "I haven't heard of them _saying_ anything particularly special, but Asuna is someone I would not mind getting to _see_ …"

 ** _"_** ** _BEN!"_**

Acheivement unlocked: least reliable writer ever.

Yes, I died, but I was resurrected by the traveller to push back the forces of the darkness. so here you go. This concludes the 'Yui arc' as I'm naming it. please fave, follow, and review fairly, and unless I end up with another week of tests, next chapter up by Thursday. See y'all!


	24. Chapter 23:The reaper and the souls

Disclaimer: I only own OC's. whoever owns SAO, it's not me.

Chapter 23: The Reaper and the souls.

 _Floor: 75. Players remaining: 6,159_

"You know," Adamant said, contemplating the massive gateway in front of him. "We really need to stop staring at doors."

His comment was met with muted chuckles from the rest of his guild; muted because of the general anxiety among the gathering of clearers. The sound of a shield slamming against the floor drew their attention as Heathcliff began his customary speech, and Ben began to translate: "Welcome players, to what could be the jolly well greatest challenge we have yet to face, FwaFwaFwa."

"Ben. Stop with the mocking accent."

He sighed. "Fine. Ahem: As I'm sure most of you will know, each 25 floors has provided us with an immense difficulty spike. And as fewer of you will know, all the scouts sent to discover the boss on the 75th floor have been slain by it." Gasps rolled across the crowd. "And so, I must ask something of you. How many of you have exceeded level 90?" The majority of the crowd raised their arms, the few who had yet to reach such a high level looking immediately worried. Adamant grimaced and checked his own level of 94, hoping he had sufficient power to compensate for the weaker clearers.

"Good." Ben translated the reassuring voice of the commander. "15 levels higher should be enough to compensate for the lack of info we have on the Boss. However, I will not sugar coat the challenge we must face. Whatever lies behind this door will be tough, fast, and powerful; but if we work together, fight hard, and follow orders, we _will_ beat it, in the same way that we _will_ beat this game. Now, who is willing to fight for their freedom?"

This elicited loud cheers from the assembled warriors, and Adamant couldn't help but admire the man's charisma. Giving a small nod in recognition of the crowds assent, Heathcliff turned and pushed open the imposing doors, and the crowd spilled into the chamber.

Directing Dylan into a circuit of the arena and Serena to a position at the edge, Adamant analysed the room. It appeared to be a large, white, circular platform in the middle of a dark cavern. It struck him as odd that there was a blatantly obvious falling hazard, and as even odder that the boss was nowhere to be seen. "Hey Serena, can you pinpoint the boss? 'Cause I can't see-"

"ON THE CEILING!" Adamant looked up to see a gigantic snake/ centipede thing comprised only of bones and glowing red eyes detach from the ceiling and drop to the floor in the centre of the room. Those capable of understanding Serena's call jumped backwards, but the majority of the raid group (being a mostly Japanese population) didn't know what caused her concern, and were caught unawares when the boss crashed to the floor, rapidly swiping 3 metres long scythe-like claws at the players directly in front of it. One of the tanks, reeling from the shock, took two direct hits and was thrown backwards. Checking his HP, Adamant was shocked to see it drop all the way to zero and vanish, the player shattering into blue shards. _A death before we even hurt it…_ He thought, his horror rapidly transforming into anger. _HOW DARE IT!_

A split second later, Adamant's sword, WyrmEdge, was glowing with golden light and he charged the boss, whose _five_ health bars appeared along with its name: _The Skull Reaper_. Adamant dashed forwards, yelling "HEATHCLIFF THINK OF SOMETHING FAST-" at the struggling commander as he passed. The Reaper focused on Adamant and scuttled forwards, surprisingly agile for a monster its size, and bit at him with its metre wide jaws. Adamant simply leapt above it, landing on its backbone and sprinting along it, slashing violently at the bone beneath his feet as he ran. The boss roared at the surprising amount of damage being dealt by its puny aggressor, and flicked its tail, sending Adamant flying through the air. It spun around with frightening speed and lashed out at the falling player; in turn Adamant charged a sword skill and met the attack with glowing energy.

The ensuing explosion sent him flying backwards past the edge of the platform, but he whistled for Dylan and the faithful dragon flew towards him and gripped his back, gliding towards the floor. Adamant had spent so long training and building rapport with his familiar that he had gone from a helper to a powerful being in his own right, and was so big that only Adamant's Over-The-Top strength stat allowed him to support the creature anymore. While he wasn't quite mature enough (yet) for Adamant to ride atop him, his two metre wingspan was more than enough to slow Adamant's descent to let him land safely.

Meanwhile, the Skull Reaper was thrown onto its back by the force of the hit; its first health bar 1/4 destroyed, but quickly rose to stare at a more co-ordinated force of players. Heathcliff lead the charge, bearing a flurry of strikes from the boss with little effort and striking back with a swift thrust. Barely flinching from the light strike, the Reaper darted to the side and struck at a different target, who barely got his shield up in time to guard against the furious onslaught, losing a significant portion of his health regardless.

Before the boss could choose another target, an arrow exploded against its head, and it screeched in pain. "Fear the flashy lights!" Came a yell from Serena's direction, before a volley of glowing projectiles launched against the boss' ribs. It attempted to scuttle towards easier prey, when there was a flash and a rapier appeared embedded in each of its glowing red eyes. Jade and Asuna both twisted their respective blades for a little extra damage before leaping backwards simultaneously to avoid the swiping bones. The Reaper span around to the other players, who had now organised into pairs of tanks and DPS units.

Adamant, sprinting back into the fight couldn't help but experience deja-vu of the floor 50 boss fight. The difference between the two was the extraordinary damage the Skull Reaper was dealing. Even if tanks blocked a flurry and allowed their respective fighters to counterattack, they were forced to retreat for fear of their shields (or bodies) breaking under the onslaught, and the boss pursued the weak with malevolent ferocity, meaning a heavy hitter such as Bulltrue would often have to charge in and forcibly grab the boss' agro. Their efforts were often insufficient, however, and one by one, weaker soldiers were picked off by the Boss.

Gorgamith grimaced as the scythe-claws slammed into his gilded shield, the player behind him scrambling away as he thought: _that would have been the tenth death._ He charged his cleaver with red light and slammed it into the Boss' claw, cracking it, before The Reaper spun away to attack another target. Gorgamith glanced at its health bar, noting that it was almost halfway down, and then looked around at his fellow players. Kirito and Asuna were working together to burn it down, Ben and Bulltrue were dancing atop it, Heathcliff was standing between it and another player, and Jade was dashing in and out of its legs, stabbing it in a whirlwind of motion. Adamant (predictably) was trading direct hits with it, the regeneration offered by his 'wyverns tooth' keeping his health in the green.

He struck again, driving cracks through its bony head plate, before withdrawing the blade, reversing his grip, and deflecting most of the retaliatory strikes before calling "Switch!" and dashing backwards. The shield user who took his place was not nearly as proficient as Gorgamith or Heathcliff, and staggered under the weight of its blows. Adamant tried to shout out a warning, but a sideswipe from a claw wrenched the unlucky woman's shield to the side, and another pierced her heart.

Adamant allowed himself 0.75 seconds to gape in horror at the player dissipating, before unleashing a primal roar and launching himself forwards like a bullet. Barely touching the ground and wielding his sword high above his head, he twisted to dodge a claw swipe and brought the blade down furiously on the connection between the scythe-claw and the Reaper itself, breaking the limb fully off and sending it spinning away.

Not hearing the screech of agony from the creature, or seeing the entire raid group now rushing the weakened boss at once, Adamant watched as the claw span again and again as it flew through the air, moving towards the turned back of a red armoured player. Assuming that the connection wouldn't be lethal, and curious to see the 'unbroken' drop below half health, he watched as it struck Heathcliff in the back, and bounce off.

Wait.

Stop.

No.

How…

The tank's health hadn't dropped at all. In fact, Heathcliff hadn't reacted in any way.

And yet.

There was the slight discoloration. One that _could_ have been the light from a sword skill. But he knew what he saw. The same thing he saw when Yui took the arrow for Serena, in the Ditto fight. Or when Bulltrue occasionally pounded a wall or table out of frustration.

Appearing where the claw made contact, for only a split second, was a pale purple hexagon containing the small words: _Immortal Object._

Adamant froze and fell fully into emergency mode to better comprehend the facts and possibilities, for the first time not noticing the others who died in the mass rush against the boss, or the boss itself splintering into blue fragments. He thought of Healthcliff's sudden appearance around floor 10, seemingly out of nowhere. His surprising grasp of English, and his words to Gorgamith. _In my job in real life, it is, was, important to keep in contact with our friends in the west._ Not to mention his duel with Kirito several floors earlier, when he had moved _inhumanly_ fast, especially for a player who should have put most of his skill points into HP and Defence.

A hacker? Unlikely, a hacker would have gone way further than slight self-improvement. An A.I? Adamant doubted the game master would have created a robot to interfere with his world. _The game master…_ Adamant took in a sudden gasp as he had a flash of realisation. Surely not… and yet it was the only thing that fit. Shaking at the apparent betrayal, Adamant tightened his grip on his sword, facing a man known in-game as Heathcliff, but also man he was almost certain was the Game master, Akihiko Kayaba.

 **And pause for a second. The title** ** _untold heroes_** **suggests that this story goes alongside the main storyline, and it has, mostly. From here, kirito would fight Heathcliff, everyone would leave, and everything would be alright.**

 **And yet. I'm not willing to leave it at that. So, starting next chapter (Veiled threats and dark revelations) We're going AU. *cracks knuckles.***

 **please follow, favourite, and review fairly. See y'all!**


	25. Chapter 24: VT & DR

disclaimer: I only own OC's. whoever owns SAO, it's not me.

Chapter 24: Veiled threats and Dark Revelations.

Slowly and nonchalantly, though hiding a sea of emotions, Adamant moved towards Heathcliff. When he caught the man's eye, he thought about the best response, eventually deciding on a respectful nod, which was returned in kind by the guild leader.

Looking around for an appropriate excuse to draw closer, Adamant's eyes alighted on a player sitting a couple of metres behind Heathcliff, and gave the woman a hand up. He then turned to the oblivious general, moved to barely behind, and whispered "How's your perfect world going, Kayaba?" Seeing the man stiffen and hearing him take a sharp, involuntary breath was all the response Adamant needed.

In one smooth movement, he unsheathed his blade from his shoulder holster and swung it downwards at the treacherous general, and as he had hoped, his sword clashed with an invisible barrier, staggering him backwards several paces as a purple hexagon appeared where his blade impacted, showing off the _Immortal Object_ classification for everyone in the raid group to see.

Heathcliff looked at Adamant with what could be classified as respect before speaking. "Well, I suppose the ruse is over. Yes, I am Akihiko Kayaba, the Game master, and I knew it was only a matter of time before you found out." The other few dozen players in the raid group were watching in confusion, and Ben got over his shock in time to translate Heathcliff's words.

"I'm annoyed it took me so long." Adamant said coolly. "But it made sense. There's nothing more boring than watching someone else play a videogame, especially not such a _realistic_ experience. How long would you have gone through with the deception?"

Heathcliff shrugged. "If no one found out? I probably would have sprung it on you just after floor 99 was beaten, or perhaps faked my death? It would have been so entertaining to see your faces when I suddenly appeared at the top of floor 100. Yes, as you can probably figure out, I will be the final boss of this game." Jade moved to beside Adamant, her crimson eyes positively burning with anger. "You have a _lot_ to answer for, you psycho."

Heathcliff shrugged. "Perhaps. But I have no doubt I will find it worth it. Still, as a reward for you discovering me, I will try to answer any lingering questions you may have."

Serena, approaching, answered immediately. "Why did you ban Yui from talking to people?" Heathcliff looked at her, a faint smile on his lips. "The psychology assistant? I would have thought it would be obvious. This world is a test; a test of the human mind. People trapped inside a videogame, where dying kills them in real life? It sounds like the plot to an Anime season. I did it to measure how all those people would react, and I couldn't have an A.I meddling. Except in your cases, of course."

"What a convenient segue into my question." Adamant interrupted. "Why is my guild so important to you?"

Heathcliff smiled, and then glanced across to Ben, saying, "You may not want to translate this." Then turned back to Adamant.

"I don't suppose Yui went into any more detail than 'you're special'?" They shook their heads. "Understandable. Allow me to fill in the blanks. Jade, earlier this year you developed a skill known as 'thorn of the rose.' Serena, you developed the echolocation skill 8 levels before it should have been possible. Gorgamith, surviving Arach's attacks long enough to throw your shield at the relic. And of course Adamant, with both your 'Wyvern's Tooth' and 'Iron Field' skills. The thing that links these and other interesting situations? All of them were physically impossible." He took in the confused faces of the team, and sighed. "I didn't _code_ those skills, or a way to survive more damage than your armour and health allows, or a way to learn a skill early. Kirito's unique skill, 'dual wielding' was given to the player with the fastest reaction time, but your team is simply breaking the game. I was curious about what was so _special_ about you all, which was why I engineered your encounter with the reflection construct, Ditto."

"So what did you find out?" Adamant asked, honestly intrigued, but Heathcliff chuckled.

"Oh I won't be telling you that until you reach me in the Jade palace on floor 100, and I have no doubt you will. However, these last 25 bosses will have to be done without my assistance."

Adamant sighed. "And now I regret revealing you…"

"Hey!" Came Gorgamith's dejected voice. "I'm pretty sure I can do my job better than a treacherous psychopath-"

(An arrow flashed at Heathcliff from Serena's direction but bounced off him with another purple hexagon, followed by a muttered "Damn, I thought that might work…")

"-Who cheats." Gorgamith finished.  
Heathcliff chuckled. "Your inter-group antics are just as amusing as before…" He muttered to himself, but Serena's enhanced hearing caught the remark. "What do you mean ' _Before'?"_

The general caught himself and sighed. "Again, I will explain when you reach me. Now I intend to leave in a suitably dramatic manner, before I give anything else away. Good day."

"YOU PIECE OF-!" Adamant finally let his pent up anger out and dashed at Heathcliff, but the game master bashed his shield against the floor again, causing an explosion that knocked everyone backwards. When the smoke cleared, he was gone. "GAAAAAAAAAAH! SON OF A… Grrr…" Barely keeping his rage under control, he focused on what he had to. _Naturally everyone will stand around shouting and doing nothing, because people are stupidcreatureswhoarecomparativetosheepintheirblindignoranceand_ why _am I thinking like this? Oh yeah… Seriously, can I not go through any mildly negative experience without emergency mode cropping up?_ He sighed, opened his eyes, and looked out at the confused crowd, who (as predicted) had gotten into a massive shout fest. "Ben." He said, without looking at his team-mate. "Sorry about treating you like an instrument, but I'm gonna need this translated. _Someone_ needs to talk to these people." He whistled, and Dylan gave out a roar (causing Adamant to grin; his dragon could do _roars_ now.) as well as a burst of flame for added effect. The crowd quietened, and Adamant began. "Okay people, listen up. I'm not going to sugar-coat this. For those of you who missed it, Heathcliff, general and leader of the Knights of the Blood Oath, is not only the game-master, but the final boss of this place. He was also a brilliant speaker, and the best" (*Ahem*) "Second best shield user in the game. And I know that your natural reaction is gonna be to go and cower in the town of beginnings, with a few exceptions." He gave a meaningful glance at where Kirito and Asuna stood, leaning on each other for support, but with a determined glint in their eye. "Allow me to let you all know that that would be a _very bad idea._ As would be throwing yourself off of Aincrad because you just watched your friends die. That's because, with levels in the vicinity of 90, you are collectively the strongest players in the game. Everyone know Spiderman? " _With great power comes great responsibility"_ That means that if you have the power to help save people's lives, for example, the 6-odd thousand people left in this game, then you have a moral obligation to do just that. Which is why I expect to see all of you, and more if I have any free time from grinding, stood before the door to floor 76, and 77, and on upwards to 100, where we're gonna kick that mass murderers teeth in." The crowd seemed to be reacting to his determination; he could see the light back in their eyes. "He made these bosses beatable, and put them in our way, so we're going to beat them all. And if he made them invincible, well…" He looked back at his five team-mates. Ben cock-sure, Gorgamith resolute, Serena naïve, Bulltrue just reacting to the positivity in the air, and Jade giving him a knowing look. All grinning from ear to ear. "…Well, we have some experience with that too." He concluded, raising his sword in a salute to his guild, then to the group at large, before turning to the new door leading out of the room and upwards. "Ever considered running for ruler of the world?" Jade asked, moving to his side as the room erupted into applause. He smiled back at her. "The things I would do… safer to keep me as just 'badass gamer motivator. So, shall we go?" He gave a mock bow and held out his hand, and she slightly blushed, knowing the sometimes-genius-sometimes-clueless teen meant nothing of it. She replied with a similarly mocking curtsy, took the hand, and walked towards the rest of the world.

"Told ya." Ben chuckled, not so subtly elbowing his friend and pointing. Bulltrue looked at the two walking hand in hand through the doorway, and frowned. "Told me what?" Ben chuckled and started walking. "You're as clueless as he is… come on; I've got to cash in the info on this new floor to Argo before anyone else does."

 **Yeeeeeaaaaah! Speeeeeeches! Please follow, favourite, and review fairly. Next chapter up by friday, promise. I have no more excuses, and hope (hehe, no chance) to get it finished by the summer holidays. If not, you'd better hope i have wifi, or you have a two week gap without content. Heck, i bet there are far less reliable writers out there *cough* *Cough* *harry potter and the nightmares of future past *cough* See y'all!**


	26. Chapter 25: The hammer and the Anvil

Disclaimer: i only own OCs. whoever owns SAO, it's not me.

Chapter 25: The hammer and the anvil.

 _Top floor: 82. Players surviving: 6,125_

"ADAMANT! We have a problem."

"What now Ben…"

"Bulltrue's being stubborn and argumentative."

"Yeah? What's new?"

"He's not arguing with me." Adamant froze, dropping the sandwich onto the counter as he struggled to comprehend what he was hearing. He spun and grabbed his teammate by the shoulders. "Tell me everything.

Ben took a breath. "Ok, so when you reach level 100, the only way to get further is to get mythrill spheres and merge them with your equipment, which can get you up to level 120."

Adamant frowned. "Yeah, I know, but the only way to get them is to dismantle boss reward gear or get them from random mini-boss events. What does that have to do with Bulltrue's change in verbal sparring partner?"

Ben sighed. "Well Bulltrue and Gorgamith found a mini boss and fought it. From what I can tell from their yelling; it launched a super powerful attack, Gorgamith blocked it, and Bulltrue killed it. I know, that's how we usually fight, but it dropped one mythrill sphere and they're arguing over who it belongs to." Adamant, his mouth gradually widening throughout the recount, let loose the most vulgar swear word he knew and sprinted out of the kitchen.

"Hey! What's wrong?" Ben yelled, struggling to keep up with his leader as he ran through their house. Soon after Heathcliff's betrayal, they had used their ever growing pot of battle spoils to purchase a base of operations, and they had all decked out their own areas. Their combined wallets had been emptied, the fruits of their 'labour' including (but not limited to) a gym/training room, 4 bedrooms too many, an eyrie for Dylan (and his master) and upon said master's insistence, a zip line into a pool.

"They've gotten into the _attack vs. defence_ argument!" Adamant yelled backwards as he moved up a flight of stairs onto the second floor. "Sooner or later they're gonna fight, and Bulltrue will hit Gorgamith's shield!"

"What does that mean?" Ben replied, exasperated. Adamant reached the balcony and looked over, giving him a bird's eye view of the confrontation going on in the outdoor courtyard.

"It means." He whispered, crouching out of view of the pair. "That an unstoppable force will hit an unbreakable object. Like when Chuck Norris tried to break the Nokia 3310."

Ben frowned. "I've never heard of either of those."

Adamant nodded. "Yeah, that's because they were both erased from time and space. That's paradoxes for you."

"Then how do _you-"_

"THEN NEXT TIME WE'RE FIGHTING A BOSS LET'S SEE THAT SHIELD KILL IT!" Bulltrue yelled.

"KILLING BOSSES IS YOUR JOB! KEEPING PEOPLE BREATHING IS MINE!" Gorgamith countered.

Adamant sighed. "Excuse me for a moment." He hurtled the balcony railing and landed between the arguing pair with his hands held out to each side in a placating gesture. "Guys guys guys! Chill out!" The two stopped for a moment before rounding on him, shouting "He stole my mythrill sphere!" Simultaneously.

Adamant looked at them disdainfully (having copied the facial expression from Jade, who used it _a lot._ ) "You're arguing about whether a shield is more useful than a sword in a boss fight."

Bulltrue nodded. "Exactly! And we all know that-" Adamant sighed _again_ and moved to the side as the argument began again in earnest. Turning his back to the pair, he manipulated his inventory to check his crafting item slot, and gazed thoughtfully at what he saw there. _I could just… but they're bound to kick off again… but how do I… ohhhhh…_

"YOU DON'T SEEM TO UNDERSTAND THAT-" Gorgamith's verbal assault was interrupted by a whistle from across the courtyard. They both turned to see Adamant leaning against the wall, spinning a mythrill sphere of his own on one finger. Then it fell off, and he awkwardly muttered a curse and leant to pick it up before clearing his throat. "Ok here's the deal. Bulltrue unequips his armour- yes you can keep basic clothes on- Gorgamith unequips his cleaver, and you duel me two against one. If you beat me, I give you this sphere and you both get to improve your level." The pair stood in shocked silence.

"But…"

"We're all at level 100…"

"And if we improve our gear before you..."

"Yes, yes." Adamant waved his arm impatiently. "You both become a higher level than me and you can gloat about it to whoever. Do you accept?" The two looked at each other, at Ben, who shrugged from his spot on the balcony, then back at Adamant, holding the shining silver orb tantalisingly, and began manipulating their equipment.

Adamant gripped the hilt of WyrmEdge, drew it from his back, and waited as a 60 second countdown began above them. Falling into partial emergency mode, he planned how the fight would go, taking in the almost comical sight of Bulltrue in civilian clothes with a 5 foot sword, and Gorgamith crouched behind his similarly tall shield while his hand twitched sporadically from the lack of a weapon. The upside of spending over two years locked in a game with people was that you could predict almost exactly how they would react if you controlled what they were reacting to. And as the timer hit zero, he reversed his grip, knowing that…

Bulltrue charged, sword held behind his back (ignoring Gorgamith's calls to "think! Idiot!" from behind him) as he rapidly closed the distance between him and his target. Charging his blade with orange light, he brought it down with a crash, the energy blasting outwards as the 'explosive slam' hit the ground just in front of Adamant, the shockwave blasting heat and debris into the face of the swordsman- Or so he had hoped. In reality, Adamant had leapt above (and been completely unharmed by) the mini-earthquake. Snorting in annoyance, Bulltrue brought his blade upwards to intercept his falling opponent. In an impressive display of aerial agility, Adamant twisted out of the way of the great sword, landing in a cartwheel and slashing at Bulltrue's leg as he passed.

 _And I didn't underestimate him. Told ya._ _ **You're talking to yourself on a battlefield.**_ Thinking _to myself. Besides, I already know that..._

…Gorgamith ducked below the rim of his shield and ran forwards, his speed increasing and his shield glowing pale blue as he activated his 'shield charge' skill. _Of course_ Bulltrue had ran in like an imbecile, now it was _his_ job to do damage control.

Expecting Adamant to dodge the assault, Gorgamith was surprised when he ran headfirst towards the attack. At the last second, Adamant jumped barely off the ground, bringing both feet forward and leaving him almost parallel to the patio. A force equivalent to being rammed by a freight train discharged into his legs, the collision stopping Gorgamith in his tracks and sending Adamant hurtling backwards, spinning through the air towards the recovering Bulltrue, who he double kicked in the face and sent sprawling.

 ** _And now you stab him through the chest._** _I'm not trying to win; I'm trying to prove a point._ _ **There are more efficient ways to improve your comrades' battle effectiveness, such as-**_ _shush, Gorgamith's about to…_

Gorgamith stabbed downwards, but Adamant rolled left, avoiding being impaled by the sharp edge of the shield. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to bring his shield back up in time, Gorgamith twisted and brought his foot round in a kick. When he turned his head, he saw Adamant out of the swinging limb's reach, lightly pricking the soul of his boot and casually remarking "I could have removed that." before bringing his sword round like a golf club to block the downward swing launched by an enraged Bulltrue, using just enough force to launch him into his partner, (still recovering from the missed kick) knocking both to the floor.

 ** _You believe that by limiting your opponents' solo battle effectiveness their teamwork will improve?_** _I_ know _that they are now grudgingly going to co-operate a little with each other._ _ **And when they do?**_ Inwardly, Adamant smirked. _The carrot and the stick, random voice in my head. The carrot and the stick…_

"Okay, that went well." Gorgamith muttered.

Bulltrue frowned and replied, "No it didn't." eliciting a sigh from his teammate. "Sarcasm, idiot. Ok, how about you try and hit him _after_ I block his cuts?" Not waiting for an answer, he slowly moved forwards, using his free hand to beckon to Adamant. Accepting the challenge, Adamant charged forwards, slashing repeatedly at Gorgamith's shield. The damage was noticeable, but minimal, and Gorgamith bashed his shield forwards, shoving Adamant back a step, and Bulltrue followed up with a horizontal swing that Adamant blocked head on, sliding back a few paces. Activating a sword skill, he sliced vertically, a wave of green light pulsing out in front of him.

Surprised that Adamant would make such a simple mistake, Gorgamith absorbed the light into his gilded shield, the gem in its centre glowing brightly, before discharging it in a sphere at his opponent. Adamant jumped above the projectile, but the explosion caused as it hit the ground beneath him flung him forwards.

 _Hold on a minute, why is there a voice in my head that doesn't align with any of my conscious thoughts?_ _ **It is an**_ **extreme** ** _tactical error to ask philosophical questions when about to be hit by your opponent._** _Why? I may as well, since I'm going to let him hit me._ _ **You're-**_

Bulltrue crashed his fist into Adamant, sending the human projectile rolling along the floor before flipping to his feet. Bulltrue grinned at what he could have sworn was surprise in his opponents eyes, before those eyes closed for a moment, re-opening alight with golden fire. "Oh no." Bulltrue lamented. "It's the try hard pants."

Gorgamith sighed and raised his shield. "It is unfortunate that he's using wyvern's tooth, but, c'est la vie. If we attack consecutively, not simultaneously, we can do this."

"Wuht?"

"IF _I'M_ NOT HITTING HIM, _YOU_ HIT HIM!" Bulltrue spent a split second looking at his companion in dawning comprehension before said companion skidded backwards on the receiving end of a brutal horizontal slash from Adamant, and Bulltrue's reactions kicked in, launching an aggressive swipe to his midsection. Expecting to hit _something,_ he was thrown off balance as his blade passed over the swordsman's head.

Relying on his companion, Bulltrue continued his spin, and heard the satisfying clang of Gorgamith blocking Adamant's counterstrike. His 360 turn completed; Bulltrue launched an even faster strike, and Adamant leapt away from it, before being knocked off balance by a shield charge from a relentless Gorgamith. Unable to stop the constant onslaught, Adamant was gradually pushed backwards to the wall of the house, where he made a last ditch leaping strike at Gorgamith. Effortlessly, the tank hurled the smaller figure off the shield to bash against the wall, where, without giving him a chance to fall, Bulltrue impaled him with his blade. Adamant was pinned there for a good three seconds before his health reached half and the blade was shoved from his body by an unseen force, writing in the sky announcing Bulltrue and Gorgamith the winners.

"Well thank Kayaba houses are classed as safe zones." Adamant laughed, manipulating his inventory from his sitting position. "Or you literally would have killed me there." He materialised his mythrill sphere as a game object and tossed it to the exited pair, who were too busy discussing the fight to notice. "Did you see that last hit?" Bulltrue exclaimed, waving his sword around and re-enacting the event. "I was like, schwa! And he was like, eeek! And then I was like-" Ignoring the exclamations of everyone present, Bulltrue launched a massive overhand swing… right at Gorgamith. The tank lifted his shield-

The two collided-

Throughout the game, the sky temporarily fluctuated into ones and zeros. In the backyard of the house, the shockwave sent Ben (still on the balcony) flying back into the house, Adamant flying back into the wall, and Bulltrue & Gorgamith 100 metres in opposite directions. Adamant looked at the gigantic crater in the 'immortal object' patio, and burst into guffaws of laughter. "Well!" He managed to get out. "KAYABA IS NOT GOING TO MISS THAT!

 _One hour later._

Bulltrue's eyes lit up with joy as Lisbeth's hammer struck again and again against his sword, the metal gradually morphing until the 20th strike, when it finally reached a still form, this time far more ornate and shiny, but no less effective. The blacksmith smiled at the look on Bulltrue's face. "You think it looks cool now? You can equip four armour pieces and one weapon at once, each can hold up to four mythrill orb boosts if fully upgraded. Five times four is…" Bulltrue stared at her blankly for a few seconds before she continued. "20. So your sword can get more awesome, and more powerful, three more times."

Adamant chuckled as the two continued to discuss weapons in general while Gorgamith quietly observed the changes to his shield. Lisbeth's shop had never been so crowded. Especially with…

"So let me get this straight." Ben started, brow furrowed in concentration. "You let them win?" Adamant nodded, and he continued. "You gave up a mythrill sphere just to help your friends' teamwork?" Adamant nodded again. "You do realise how valuable they are?"

Adamant shrugged. "I need my 'troops' to be completely comfortable fighting with each other and this was the best way I could think of doing it." **_Without consulting me._** _Shut up, I don't even know what you are, random voice. I name you Tim the voice._ _ **Your naming strategies are very inefficient-**_ _I've given you some attention, now shut up._

"Besides," He whispered, without showing his sudden internal conversation. "I have two more." Ben stood, gobsmacked, before grabbing Adamant's shoulders in a similar fashion to Adamant's own surprised outbreak earlier that morning. "How did you get three?" Adamant scratched at the back of his head, something Ben knew was a nervous reaction of his. "Argo promised me she would do everything she could to let me get at the mini bosses first."  
Ben raised an eyebrow. "Dude, her prices for that must be… what did you pay her?" His face fell as Adamant sighed dejectedly. "I didn't have any money to pay her with after the house's upgrades."

Ben was looking suspicious now. "Adamant. What. Did. You. Sell her."

Adamant subtlely pulled out a teleport crystal. "I, ahh... I may have told her everything I know about the team."

Ben's face in that moment was completely priceless, but Adamant didn't get to see it before crushing the crystal and warping back to the house. The rooms other occupants only saw a blue flash from the teleport before hearing Ben's howl of outrage.

 **I said friday, and delivered. with a long one to boot!**

 **Yes, Tim the voice in Adamant's head is relevant, expect more from it. Yes, the mythrill spheres are an original idea. If you wan't me to go in detail about what the house looks like, i'll do it. (buy myself some time before i have to be creative.) Either way, please follow, favourite, and review fairly. Next chapter up sometime after now and before the end of the universe. If i hit my stride. See y'all!**


	27. Chapter 26: The birthday hunt, pt 1

Disclaimer: I only own OC's. whoever owns SAO, it's not me.

Chapter 26: The Birthday hunt.

 _Top floor: 83. Surviving players: 6,122_

Sleep, in SAO, was an interesting phenomenon for the naturally inquisitive. If their real life bodies were constantly sleeping, why was it necessary?

The surviving players generally agreed that while their bodies didn't need it (explaining why someone could go without sleep indefinitely with enough willpower) their minds required time to sort through the day's events and prepare for more input. Therefore, Adamant slept, and while his thoughts should have been on the boss raid the day before, or his birthday the day ahead, they were instead preoccupied with certain thoughts that kept running through his head. Thoughts he affectionately named Tim.

 _Okay, first question._ Adamant thought, his imaginary body leaning over the imaginary metal table to look at the imaginary figure handcuffed to an imaginary chair. _Who are you?_

 ** _I believe you call me_** **Tim.** _Okay, rephrase._ What _are you?_ _ **I'm not going to answer that.**_ _Don't know or won't tell?_ _ **The latter.**_ _Why won't you tell?_ _ **The answer to that question is similarly classified.**_ _By who?_ _ **By myself.**_

 _…_ _Second question, when will you tell me?_ _ **When a specific set of circumstances have been met.**_ _What circumstances?_ The voice remained silent. _Well at least I know you're not some ingenious quest NPC…_

 _Third question, why do you speak so mechanically?_ _ **Because I deem it to be the most effective and efficient method of communicating.**_ _Not if who you speak to doesn't understand your big words._ _ **Don't you?**_ _I read enough books to- Hey, I'm asking the questions!_ His imagination planted a smug look on the figure's face.

 _Fourth question, how are you going to stop yourself from accidentally blurting out your secrets?_ _ **I have no intention of allowing my emotions to get that out of hand.**_ _So you do experience emotions?_ _ **I experience motivations to act, but not emotions as you know them. My mental state is similar to your 'emergency mode'.**_ _Are you responsible for that? For my emergency mode?_ _ **I am… related to it.**_ _So is it normal for your species?_ _ **No, it- wait, how?**_

That time, Adamant's imagination planted a smug grin on his own face. _Lucky guess. So much for 'no intention of allowing my emotions to get out of hand.' Your own species, huh? What are you, an alien? A parasite?_ _ **Someone is in your room.**_ _How do you know-wait, don't change the subject!_ _ **You aren't paying attention to your senses, on account of being asleep, but I've taken the liberty of concentrating on them. I can hear, smell, and feel what's going on in the room.**_ _My eyes are shut._ _ **That would explain my inability to see. But it's irrelevant; I've heard footsteps entering, stopping by your bed, doing something, then leaving.**_ _What did they do when- you know what, I don't care. They can't touch me in a safe zone. Besides, it's barely two in the morning, I'm not getting up._ _ **True.**_

 _…_

 ** _…_**

 _What did they do?_

 ** _I think they stole your hat._**

 _WHAT?!_

Adamant's imaginary interrogation room exploded and he jolted awake, noting his hat gone from the table by his bed and a note in its place. Not even bothering to read the thing he sprinted throughout the house, rudely awakening all of his teammates (But at least knowing that they had been asleep) and confirming that the house, and the lands 100 metres around it, were free of intruders.

"Of course!" He yelled, fuming on his bed, surrounded by his teammates who were staring at him with a mixture of annoyance and fear for his mental state. "Of _course_ my hat got stolen on my _freaking Birthday_!"

"Well maybe," Ben grumbled, having being enjoying a certain dream he would never admit to having (Especially not to a certain pink haired blacksmith) "You shouldn't have made all our personal information, like our address, birth dates, and prized belongings, available to anyone with enough money."

Gorgamith saw what he was implying. "You think it was some deranged fan?"

Ben shrugged. "We're the top clearers. From what Argo's told me, we have what equates to celebrity status. It wouldn't surprise me if some kid did it as a bid for attention."

Jade, standing there quietly and waiting for someone to get to the point, gave up. "Will someone read the note then?" She yelled.

Startled into action (No-one wanted to be near Jade if she got mad) Adamant grabbed the note and read aloud.

 _"_ _Floor seven squared in the glass mines,_

 _I lie where the last moonlight shines,_

 _Yet continue your search and you must beware,_

 _Light's nemesis awaits you there._

That's it, except for a box underneath, with a triangle in one corner. Maybe- Ah!" The exclamation came when the note disintegrated into blue particles in his hand.

Ben whistled. "Spooky stuff. 3 guesses what 'floor seven squared means."  
"We need to find a floor with seven squares arranged in a pattern!" Bulltrue said, pleased to have contributed, before Ben sighed. "It's floor 49, pea-brain."

Gorgamith spoke up. "All of floor 49's mini-dungeons are mines. And there are _lots_ of them. How are we going to find a glass one?"

Adamant was already up and moving. "We'll just have to find out when we get there."

"Wait wait wait!" Ben cried after him. "You aren't taking this seriously?"

Adamant looked back, and then pointedly up at his no-longer concealed hair. "I don't care if it's a wild goose chase. I need my damn hat back." He walked out of the room, and, one by one, his guild followed.

 **so good news and bad news. bad news is I'm going on a fortnight summer holiday in a week. also, there is no good news! Except that I'm gonna try and finish the 'birthday hunt' arc by then, so more rapid chapters for you. Yaay!**

 **Please follow, favourite, and subscribe, next chapter up V soon.**


	28. Chapter 27: The birthday hunt, pt 2

Disclaimer: I only own OC's. whoever owns SAO, its not me.

Chapter 27: The Birthday hunt, pt. 2

"Okay, so none of you have any idea what 'glass mines' may be referencing? Specifically?" The five heads shaking made him to hit the nearest wooden beam in frustration, his mood worsening from the bad memories associated with the 'immortal object' alert.

Upon warping to floor 49 as the riddle had intended, the group had reached what equated to a vantage point (a rickety old tower) and looked out over the pockmarked and desolate landscape of that floor. Despite it almost being sunrise, it wasn't exactly an inspiring view.

 _Grrrr… Tim! Make yourself useful and think of something. **Glass is a transparent, reflective substance created upon superheating sand and other materials. It is commonly used by modern humans as-** Hold on hold on, go back 17 words. **Created upon superheating sand and other-**_

"Hey guys! Any of you know about a fire or lava themed dungeon on this floor?"

There was silence for a moment before the only one who understood Japanese gossip gave a little gasp. "I dunno about a fire theme, but I've heard that there are certain areas where fire related skills can open up secret rooms in certain dungeons… You think that instead of finding a glass mine, we need to make one?" Adamant nodded, and then looked up at the floating, glowing crescents across the air that constituted the lighting for the floors. (Real sky being hardly available when there was the metal underside of a higher floor 1Km above you.) Even as he looked, the pale white glow of one 'little moon' switched to a warm sunlight yellow.

"And we have a time limit." He realised. "The moons will transition to a daylight glow gradually, with the last one to change being to the furthest west." He pointed towards that specific moon. "'Where the last moonlight shines'… I think we have our dungeon."

The dungeon entrance closest to the final moon was a sand mine, trickles of the stuff falling through cracks in the ceiling between the wooden supports. The monsters within were unthreatening centipede and golem types, and yet Adamant noticed his teammates making occasional furtive glances over their shoulders. "What's wrong?" He asked Ben, who shrugged. "I dunno, I guess I-"

"Hey guys!" Serena's voice rang out from down a side passage. "I've found something!" They regrouped around the archer, who was stood 'staring' fixatedly at… A random spot on the wall. "Uuh, is that wall important?" Bulltrue asked.

Serena sighed. "Maximum awareness, remember? Any secret stands out like a sore thumb."

"… Are you sure?" In answer, Serena fixed him with the most disdainful look a blind person can manage, and simultaneously drew an arrow from her hip quiver, fitted it to her bow, (causing it to set alight) and fired at the wall. The flames spread across a circular section of the sandstone. The pale yellow surface glowed red hot under the heat, before crystallising into a reflective glass, which shattered, revealing an entrance to a room beyond. "Yeah." She replied, interrupting the stunned silence. "Pretty sure."

The new room was (naturally) comprised of glass, the jagged edges forming a rough sphere with a pedestal in the centre. The room was dim, apparently lacking any natural light source. As the group moved in one by one (the entry passage relatively narrow) they looked around the impressively designed room, but their attention was quickly drawn to the chest in the centre. Hopeful, Adamant threw back the lid… but found it empty. He banged it closed again in frustration, muttering curses to himself, but Jade suggested, "It specifically mentioned 'where the last moonlight shines' right? Maybe we can only find this thing when the moon shines."

Adamant frowned at her. "How is the moonlight going to… oh." He followed her pointed finger to a chimney like opening in the roof of the cavern. "It was cloudy when we went in, wasn't it?" As if on cue, a ray of light flashed down through the chimney, quickly reflecting off the shiny surfaces and lighting the whole chamber. Adamant grimaced , glad that the moonlight wasn't blindingly strong, and looked around the newly illuminated chamber. An alcove in the wall, previously unnoticeable, caught his attention, and he walked over to it. Camouflaged against the white-blue chamber, but now noticeable as it didn't reflect light, was another note. "Hey Serena, why didn't you notice this thing?" He called, examining the note, but received no reply. Glancing around the room, he saw Ben, Bulltrue, Gorgamith, and Jade, but _not_ the blind archer.

"Probably 'cause all the sharp angles messed with her echolocation." Ben filled in, oblivious to Adamant's rising concern. "I've heard that sometimes bats-"

"Ben! Where's Serena?" At once, the whole party looked around, confused, then anxious, Jade moving to check their party from her inventory while Adamant rushed out the entrance. What he saw made his heart skip a beat. Serena's blindfold, lying beside another note. "Adamant, she isn't in the party anymore!" Jade exclaimed, but it fell on deaf ears as he picked up the blood red slip of paper.

 _'I have claimed she who sees nothing, yet all,_

 _The odds stacked against you are tall,_

 _Waste not time searching, your situation is grim,_

 _And soon I will claim my next victim'_

Adamant read it aloud, and looked up to see panic on his team members faces.  
"Uuh, guys? What does that mean?" Jade asked, worriedly.

"It means." Adamant said, fighting to control his breathing and think logically. "That we need to finish this goose chase. And we have a time limit."

 **Sorry about the delay! I had some troubles with my Beta. Why am i not plugging him? cos he's in real life. Anywhen, crud's getting real. you _will_ have a chapter on wednesday/tuesday evening, simply to tide you over for two weeks. See y'all!**


	29. Chapter 28:the birthday hunt pt3

Disclaimer: i only own OC's. whoever owns SAO, it's not me.

Chapter 28: The Birthday Hunt pt.3

 _'_ _On the castle's level where The Gleam Eyes lay,_

 _From the preferred path you must stray,_

 _Though the walls may be awash with flame,_

 _You begin the next chapter of this game.'_

Adamant stared thoughtfully at the blue slip of paper in his hand. "Well, 'The Gleam Eyes' was the floor 63 boss, so we have to go there, does anyone know-"

"Hold on!" Ben interrupted, his hands raised in a timeout gesture. "You're actually doing this?"

Adamant gave him a sidelong look. "Aren't you?"

Ben struggled for words "Well, I mean… Serena is-"

"Probably. Not. Dead." Adamant stated firmly, steel in his eyes. "If it's some quest, Kayaba wouldn't just kill off my teammates. If it's a deranged fan, he'd keep her as ransom. And we're not going to get her back," His determined demeanour cracked for a moment. "Or avenge her, unless we get to the end of this."

Ben grimaced, and then sighed. "I don't like this… But I think I know what your ditty means."

._.

"So _that's_ how you got back up to par!" Jade exclaimed, after Ben described the location he suspected. 'The burning labyrinth', a maze containing mobs that give lots of exp. Nothing special, except that _the walls were on fire._ Ben nodded as the group walked across the floor. "I couldn't keep on your level just with the assist exp I get from Bulltrue. Of course, Kirito practically soloed The Gleam Eyes a few days after we got to this floor, so I didn't have time to tell you about it." Adamant gave a snort. "Anyway, 'the preferred path' is probably referring to the certain well known way to go in a circle around the maze, and farm mobs the most efficiently. Problem is, since no-one needed to go anywhere else, nobody's made a map of the rest of the maze, soooo…"

"We'll be in a maze with no clear exit and _light's nemesis_ hunting us down." Gorgamith remarked bitterly. Adamant looked at the tank. His arms were crossed and his eyes were down, appearing brooding, far different from his usual, chivalrous appearance. He hadn't sunk into emergency mode the moment his (girlfriend? moral compass? replacement sister?) Had gone totally off the radar, which Adamant had taken as a good sign. But, with a mental sigh, he realised that it didn't mean Gorgamith was unaffected.

Sidling up, Adamant nudged his guild mate's shoulder, asking in a low voice, "Hey. You alright?" Gorgamith raised an eyebrow in a ' _seriously?'_ look, and Adamant elaborated. "I mean, can you still operate?" Gorgamith let out a breath. "Yeah, I just… I'm worried. Worried for Serena, mostly, but… also for us." This time Adamant raised an eyebrow, but as a question, not a mocking gesture, and Gorgamith elaborated. "Serena's awareness is maxed out. That means nothing in this game can hide from her. That's a simple fact about Sword Art Online. If something can get to her without her noticing, then… it isn't meant to be in this game. Do you understand?"

Adamant did. It meant that either Kayaba had done this by giving this 'lights nemesis' a higher sneak skill than should be possible. Or if it was a player, then they could break the game in the same way only his guild had up to that point.

 ** _If I may interject..._** _what now Tim?_ _ **There are other possibilities.**_ _Such as?_ _ **Someone pulled her plug, so to speak. Attempted to remove the nerve gear in the real world.**_ _In which case it was some sort of psychopath who managed to get into her room and kill her despite the doctors probably swarming her bedside._ _ **She died IRL from some other circumstances, such as disease or malnourishment.**_ _Again, surrounded by doctors, and do you have any theories that don't involve her death?_ _ **She went willingly.**_

 ****The suggestion, said so offhand, was enough to make Adamant stumble, much to the barely disguised mirth of his teammates.

 _She what?_ _ **She willingly ran away for reasons unrelated to this hunt we are partaking in.**_ _But… why?_ _ **Blackmail is a likely possibility. Or perhaps she had a secret lover she preferred to Gorgamith. Or-**_

"Shut up." Adamant growled, startling his teammates. He shook his head, vainly hoping it would get rid of the stark and tactless Tim. Then, realising his Guild (minus Serena) had stopped behind him, he looked up. "Oh." He said simply, at the flaming gateway in front of him. "Found it."

._.

Ten minutes into the maze and Adamant had decided that grinding in here would not have been worth it. His guild gear may lessen energy damage, but that was if he was _in_ the fire. When he was simply surrounded by it, then he was just wearing black clothes. (Not the best for dealing with heat) Dylan was having a great time, and Jade, in her armour-so-light-it's-better-described-as-summer-clothing, was apparently coping, but Bulltrue and Gorgamith were having a far harder time of it in their armour-so-heavy-it-made-a-nuclear-bunker-seem-flimsy. Of course, they would have probably been better off laying on a beach in this heat rather than on a three metre wide pathway between ten foot walls of fire.

"Not, like, stone thingy's with fire on them." Bulltrue lamented, panting at the back of the group. "Proper walls of like, fire." Ben nodded, leaning on his friend for support and trying to crack a smile. "I assume instead of a note we're gonna find a computer in here, 'cause Kayaba is protecting this thing with some serious firewalls."

" _You're bad and you should feel bad."_ The group chorused, shutting him up for a second, before he called to the front of the group. "Hey Adamant! How do you know where you're going?"

Adamant looked back and shrugged. "Basic psychology. People don't leave their important clues in random places, or strewn on the floor somewhere. Well I would, but normal people wouldn't. So I'm leading us down the hottest corridor each time assuming that will lead us to the centre of the maze." Ben couldn't be bothered to raise his eyes from the floor to give his leader _a look_ but said. "And how will you know when we get to the centre?"  
"Maybe there will be a ceiling of fire in the middle."

Ben sighed and finally began to lift his eyes, sarcastically muttering. "My, what a specific piece of information. I wonder how you came to that conclusion-oh great you found it."

._.

Through a pathway, the group could see a pedestal that (surprise surprise) supported a chest. The only difference was the burning, arched roof over that pathway, making it reminiscent of a tunnel. Jade judged the length calculatingly. "Okay, that tunnel is bound to have some sort of trap in it." There was muttered assent from the rest of the group. "Do you want me to sprint through it?"

Gorgamith elbowed past her and unslung his shield from his back. "No." He said, simply. "If you can't outrun the trap, you're dead. And if there's a boss in there, I'd rather you sprint in after me than you wait for me to lumber up."

 ** _He's projecting his brotherly feelings onto Jade because Serena isn't an available outlet for them-_** _Could you stop?_

Adamant shoved the thoughts aside and put his hand on Jade's shoulder, silencing her rebuke with a _don't go there_ look. Then he nodded at Gorgamith. The tank moved to a few steps before the tunnel, braced for a moment, then ran.

While he was hardly a runner, Gorgamith could reach an impressive pace. (Adamant could testify to it after being on the receiving end of one of his shield charges.) The tunnel was roughly a hundred metres long, and Gorgamith was barely a third of the way through it when the walls of flame began to leak lava. Jade leapt back in alarm from her position just at the entrance, but the molten rock hit some sort of invisible barrier before it could leave the tunnel, and instead progressed worryingly quickly towards their sprinting comrade. Adamant firmly believed Gorgamith could make it, but then lava began raining from random points in the ceiling.

Gorgamith panted and strained to quicken his pace. Exercise fatigue in SAO was the same as sleep deprivation. You could feel it, but it wouldn't actively knock you out or anything. So Gorgamith ignored the building burn in his legs, knowing that if he didn't keep going then he would get a far more dangerous burn. Twenty metres from the exit, fifteen, he dodged a dollop of lava dropping from the ceiling. Ten, five, the escape loomed ever closer. His foot was just about to cross the 'finish line' when the roof positively erupted with lava, boiling liquid falling towards him-

…The rest of the guild simply gaped in shock as lava filled the passage. It stayed at roughly head height, restrained still by the invisible barrier. Then, over the course of a few seconds (though it felt like years to the bedraggled group.) It drained away back into the walls...

To reveal Gorgamith standing there, shaking leftover lava off his shield, and grinning broadly at them. The remainder of the guild whooped and cheered and ran (at a far more casual pace) through the tunnel, and no more lava fell on them. Gorgamith moved off to the side, apparently spotting something, and Adamant grinned to himself for just another moment, before facing the realisation that _Serena was still gone_ , which managed to send his mood plummeting again. He exited the tunnel first, idly kicking open the lid of the chest to find it empty, then looked across to congratulate his guild mate and GORGAMITH WAS GONE.

Adamant let loose every piece of colourful language he knew as he looked around the entire room and back out into the tunnel, thinking: _How? There was one exit! One!_ _ **It is entirely possible that he was teleported out-**_ _Not now!_ Adamant turned his gaze to the floor, and found what he had expected. Two small notes. He picked up the red slip and, and, horror growing in his heart, read the poem.

 _'_ _Darkness Ender' lays upon his shield,_

 _Apparel he may no longer wield._

 _More challenges await, will you last?_

 _Your life, and struggle, are ending fast_ _ **.**_

 **Baa dum, dum, dum, tsh, another one bites the dust. the final upload before i ditch you all for two weeks. Maybe i'll be lucky and find wifi somewhere in france, but if not, well, you have a cliffhanger for two weeks. *Evil Grin.* Please follow, favourite, and review fairly. if i can get 3000 views by the time i get back, i will be uber chuffed with you guys. Until then, see y'all!**


	30. Chapter 29: The Birthday hunt pt 4

Disclaimer: I only own OC's. Whoever owns SAO, its not me.

The Birthday Hunt Pt.4

 _'_ _Ten floors higher you must go,_

 _Where flora born from darkness grow,_

 _Your tensions are frayed, your mind-wounds raw,_

 _Can you reach the next clue in the black plant's maw?'_

"And," Adamant sighed, finishing the poem, "Another triangle in the corner of a box. This has to be significant." He looked up at his three companions. Ben, Bulltrue, and Jade, all looking shaken. The loss of two people seemed far more significant than the loss of one.

Adamant focused his gaze on Ben, who flopped onto the floor. "'The Shadow Garden', floor 73. Best place to gather alchemy ingredients, and to hide 'light's nemesis' assassins, apparently."

Bulltrue nodded sagely (at least, he tried). "Yeah… I don't know if we should go to that place." Adamant looked to Jade for support, but she was giving him a questioning look as well.

 ** _You are going to have to motivate your underlings if you desire their assistance from here on out._** _Firstly, they aren't my underlings. Secondly, I think I_ noticed."

"Alright team, I'm not going to sugar coat this for you." Adamant started, prompting Ben to prop himself up, and Bulltrue to stop staring at a nearby butterfly. "Serena is gone, possibly dead. Gorgamith is the same. If we keep going, that could happen to any, or all, of us. But what if we stay?" He looked at each of them in turn, gauging their responses. "Best case scenario we live out the rest of this game, minus two powerful clearers and two good friends. Worst case scenario, we sit and cower while whatever it is takes the rest of us. Would you really be able to live with yourselves? Knowing that you could have done something, but didn't?" He got up, whistled to Dylan, and began the walk back towards the city, calling over his shoulder, "Because I know I wouldn't."

._.

The Shadow Garden was the first place the hunt had sent them to that could be described as truly eerie. Mist curled around their feet as they walked through dark, damp grass. It had been early afternoon by the time they had left the Burning Labyrinth, but a thick canopy of sickly, vine covered trees blocked off most of the light, leaving the Garden in, well, shadow. The atmosphere was not helped by the dozens of unsavoury looking plants unevenly spaced around the area, some of which would completely randomly attack both Adamant, and his three remaining teammates. "So let's be clear here." Adamant stated, scanning the surroundings. "No one goes out of sight of the other three until we sort this."

"Hey Adamant?" Jade muttered, glancing around furtively and inching closer. "How do you think its choosing its victims?"

He frowned at her. "What do you mean?"

She shrugged, evidently flustered by the conversation. "The whole 'lights nemesis' thing. The red slips were there the moment Serena and Gorgamith di-" She shook her head. "-went missing, so it must have known who it was going to kill before it killed them, right?"

Adamant gave a shrug of his own. "It could have been simple convenience? Serena and Gorgamith were out of our sight at the time…maybe it wrote the cards in advance and just dished them out on a whim?" **_Obsessive people or A.I rarely act 'on a whim' like that._** _Got a better idea?_ _ **Not yet.**_

"Hey look!" Bulltrue called from in front. "A chest in the middle of an empty clearing! I'm gonna open it!-"

" ** _NO!_** "

._.

Wary, they spread out around the edges of the clearing, eyeing the chest with immense suspicion. Ben gave a whistle to get their attention, and then pointed to the left of the chest, where a small blue slip lay on a mossy rock. "This had better not be a fake-out…" Adamant muttered darkly, before calling out. "Gorgamith, pull it's-" But Gorgamith wasn't there, he reminded himself with a curse. "Bulltrue, go to the chest and check if there's a boss. _Carefully."_ The giant of a teen nodded and headed towards the chest, comically standing on his tip toes in true slapstick stealth fashion.

When he got within five feet, roots curled up and around the chest, smothering it and hiding it from view. A vine as thick as a tree-trunk swept out from the top, supporting a bulbous, eyeless head shape with a set of huge jaws… which promptly clamped around the blue slip and swallowed it.

Adamant gave a groan, grabbed his sword, and dashed at the 'delsu baba' (A name which sounded somehow familiar) disturbing Dylan and slashing at the plant's neck. The blade cut deep, then, to his surprise, all the way through. Removing a vital area such as the head usually meant the boss was dead, but its health bar didn't even drop a quarter. Then again, that was how it _usually_ worked. As it was, they got to watch as _two heads_ regrew where the one had been removed. "Hydra!" Ben yelled, before dashing in to repel one head's counterattack. Jade leapt in and impaled the other through the mouth, causing it to grimace and shatter. Once again however, despite the health dropping further, the number of heads increased.

._.

Bulltrue was getting frustrated. The way he saw it, it was a _birthday_ hunt. Even if two people were missing, it was supposed to be done by the end of the _birthday_ and the fight was taking too long.

He gave a roar and charged his blade with blue light. Ben looked at him, swore, and called out: "Guys! You may wanna disengage!" As his friend bulldozed forwards. All six heads turned to stare at the new threat, but rather than attacking them, Bulltrue brought the blade down onto the base of roots covering the chest. Blue flames spread out from the contact and encompassed the rest of the plant. It gave some sort of pained exclamation and all six heads burst into fragments, but (probably due to the flames licking at their stumps) did not come back. One by one, the roots broke into blue shards, revealing the chest, which Adamant was pretty sure was both empty and useless.

"Check for where the card fell!" Adamant called, terse, prompting Ben and Bulltrue to check the far end of the clearing. _Well thank god Bulltrue was there, or that would have taken forever._ _ **Your concept of time may need recalibrating, but yes; his assistance was a catalyst in our latest success.**_ _Mm, seems like everyone's pulling their…weight…_ _ **you're troubled.**_ _We needed Serena to find and enter the glass mine, and she was taken. We needed Gorgamith to get through the lava corridor, and he was next. And now we needed Bulltrue to beat the plant…_ _ **You think-**_

"HOLY MOTHER OF-"

Adamant whirled round to see Ben twenty metres away, (the blue slip in his hand) scrambling away from an empty spot on the floor, a red slip of paper just falling onto the ground. "BLACK FIGURE!" Ben yelled, looking at them eyes wide. "SMOKE ALL OVER HIM! HE GRABBED BULLTRUE AND DROPPED THE CARD, THEN THEY VANISHED! HE-" Ben froze and gave a whimper, his eyes looking past the shoulders of Adamant and Jade. They spun, seeing nothing but a few tendrils of smoke, before a muffled grunt came from behind them, followed by a cloud of the stuff. Adamant and Jade coughed, grimacing, but the cloud soon dissipated, leaving the pair alone in the clearing.

. _.

Jade looked across at her last remaining guild-mate to see his eyes closed, his fists clenched, and his breathing ragged. She almost flinched at the bad memories it provoked. The last time he had looked like that, well, Dylan had died. "Adamant." She asked tentatively. "Are you…"

"Going into emergency mode? Not a chance. This is partially my fault, and I deserve everything I'm feeling right now." She grimaced at his terseness, and he sighed. "I'm sorry, I just…"

She walked up and gave his hand a squeeze, eliciting a surprised look. "Listen." She said. "I get it. Four out of five of your friends have gone and you feel responsible. But you're not gonna make it through this if you're wound up like a jack-in-the-box. Besides, you still have one friend left?"

Adamant nodded as he walked across to the two slips of paper and picked both up, calling over his shoulder. "Yeah, you're right. Dylan's always here to give support!" She rolled her eyes and almost managed to smile, before Adamant's face fell as he took in the red slips poem. She sighed, dejected, and held her hand out, receiving the note without a word. Bracing, she read the four- no, five lines.

 _Bulltrue is mine, though he was strong,_

 _You believed you could dodge me, you were wrong._

 _Ben left not his side, he too I did claim,_

 _You have gagged on my smoke….._

Now fear my flame.

I'm BAck! And better than ever! Music yeah...

I tried to add a little bit of everything to this chapter to compensate for the pause, please follow favourite, and review fairly.

So sorry for taking so long, but i'll be back to regular chapters till the end. What was i doing? Well, if you check my written stories...

P.S I left the snipers in the back. You'll probably want to use them when you see it.

PPS: See y'all!


	31. Chapter 30: The birthday hunt, pt 5

Know what? I'm tired of putting disclaimers at the top of every chapter. You get it by now.

P.S If you read this without the halo theme on in the background, you're doing yourself an injustice.

Chapter 30: The Birthday Hunt Pt.5

"Hey Adamant?"

"Yeah?"

"…You know you can let go of my hand now, right?"

He looked across at her and shook his head. "I've lost five friends because I let them out of my sight. It's not happening again."

She sighed, pushing back the multiple possible retorts, and asking, "So where are we going?"

Adamant recited the blue slip's poem:

 _"_ _On the highest floor you've yet to reach,_

 _Where wood is brown and leaves are peach,_

 _What you first lost can there be found,_

 _Then you, light's nemesis will surround._

And another triangle in a box. Therefore, we're on floor 83 heading to the woods."

Jade gave him a pointed look. "So then let go of my hand?"

"Why?"

"Because it's sunset, and we're heading to _there_ in particular?" She suggested.

He gave her a blank look, and she elaborated.

"The forests have orange leaves that are heart shaped. Couples find the scenery romantic, apparently, and are always coming here to ….."

Adamant was ten feet away in a split second, to the snorts of laughter of his companion.

. _.

As Jade had said, the woods were full of couples, the forest proving to be preferred by the general populace to the hill of memories. Jade and Adamant constantly had to skirt around teenage pairs as they traversed the paths, and received some odd looks for their stressed and haggard appearance. As they got deeper, the veritable crowds dwindled into occasional encounters, then to nothing. The first little sun had switched from its 'twilight' to 'moon' shine, ( _We've been doing this for twelve hours,_ Adamant lamented,) when they came across a large wooden stump, dwarfing them. A quick scout around revealed that the path ended there, so they turned their attention to the symbols carved on the trunk. Namely, a group of triangles below a large square. Adamant glanced sideways at Jade. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" She nodded and placed a finger on a right angle triangle, causing the edges to glow blue. Moving her finger across the bark moved the triangle, and she drew it into the bottom right corner of the box, where she remembered seeing the first shape back in Adamant's room earlier that morning. (Though it felt like a week ago.) The aforementioned now-15-year-old moved a different triangle to where he had seen the one in the burning labyrinth, almost flinching at the memory of losing Gorgamith. Jade thought for a moment, then swept into place the triangle mimicking the one in the glass mines. Finally, Adamant shifted the triangle they had seen just earlier in the shadow garden. With that, the entire image glowed, then shattered, and a crack split the stump down the middle, each side sliding away to reveal a staircase downwards. Adamant and Jade exchanged glances, before slowly inching through the opening.

It was unlit in the passage, but the light from outside had barely faded from the steps before a new light radiated out from the bottom. The pair reached a small room, the light being emitted by two glowing triangles embedded in the floor. In the centre of the room was a pedestal. And on the pedestal lay Adamant's hat. He stood, analysing every crack and crevice of the pedestal, before darting forwards, grabbing the hat and darting back to the entrance.

Suddenly having a thought, he looked back…

But Jade was still there, thank goodness. So he flipped his hat upside down to place it back on his head… and saw a note inside it. He grimaced and picked up the (purple?) slip of paper, reading aloud:

 _"_ _You have reclaimed what we first took,_

 _And yet, sadly, you're out of luck,_

 _The climax is coming; we've had our fun,_

 _You've fought, searched, cried,_

Now you must run."

The end of the sentence was punctuated by both floor lights winking out, leaving the room in darkness. And, deciding to heed the warning, with Jade's palm in one hand and his hat in the other, Adamant ran.

The pair was out of the passage in seconds, emerging into the dim now-moonlight. They sprinted through the trees, following the path until a carpet of smoke blanketed the path in front of them, a figure wreathed in the stuff emerging from it. Wary of the fact that it had stolen _four_ of his teammates, Adamant yanked Jade to the side and took off through the undergrowth. Glancing behind and to the side, he saw more black smoke chasing them, as well as more indistinguishable black figures rising up to pursue them. He sprinted on, seeing the trees thin before him, and then cut out. Suddenly seeing more than five feet ahead, Adamant knew that Jade wouldn't stop in time, grabbing her and pulling her downwards, both stopping a matter of inches before the cliff.

Jade glanced over the edge, taking in the plains and lakes hundreds of feet below, and stood in tandem with her remaining comrade, unsheathing her blade. She looked left to see a veritable wall of smoke pouring over the cliff, to the right and the same thing was evident, back the way they had come, and it was thicker than ever. They were trapped.

"Jump." Jade blinked at the suggestion from Adamant beside her, his blade drawn and his eyes darting around the smoke. "What?"  
"Those bodies of water negate fall damage, games are dumb like that."

She frowned. "What about you?"

He looked across at her. "I'm gonna fight it."

"What? No way, not alone, I can-"

He turned and gripped her by the shoulders, looking her dead in the eyes. "Whatever the hell this thing is it has stolen Serena, Gorgamith, Ben and Bulltrue, and created an elaborate goose chase across the _whole_ game just to get to me. I'm. Not. Letting. It. Get. You. Too."

She gave him her hardest glare, but he didn't even flinch. "Adamant, don't you _dare_ turn me into the damsel in distress here; I can help you, why can't you-"

And that was when he kissed her. Every conscious thought in her head shattered into pieces and reassembled into the fragmented….

 _Holy cow-_

 _Did he just-_

 _He did-_

 _He actually-_

 _I thought he-_

It lasted about two seconds, and she literally staggered when they broke apart, mind reeling. When she looked back at him, he was wearing that cock-sure smile of his that always played about his lips right before a fight. "That's why." He said, before planting his foot in her abdomen and firmly propelling her off the cliff. The air whipped past her ears as she fell, and on autopilot, she angled her body to point herself at the nearest pool. The fall lasted several seconds, before she hit the water with a splash and a (fortunate) lack of damage.

She was there for a few moments, just laying underwater, and if she could have opened her mouth, she would have laughed. _He actually freaking did…_ She thought, before noticing something swimming towards her.

._.

Adamant sighed, and then turned back towards the wall of smoke, flipping his hat back onto his head for the first time in about a full day. He noted the location of the three figures, raised his blade, and charged the centre foe. His slash connected with a thin, dark blade and forced it back, the wind from his attack blowing the smoke away from him slightly. A swing came from behind him from another figure, and he parried, launching a retaliatory stab.

 ** _You do realise that they will probably hunt down Jade after this._** _Yup._

His stab was blocked by an ebony shield, and, having learned from his training with Gorgamith, he leapt above the shield, cutting downwards. A projectile came at him before he could strike the figure, and he brought his blade up to block, the impact throwing him backwards and generating more of the damned smoke.

 ** _They will beat you, and destroy everything you love._** _Oh, I'm aware._

More blades came cutting at him; blinded by the smoke, he simply kept his guard tight and focused on staying in one piece.

 ** _They-_** _Tim, you're trying to motivate me, poorly I might add, but trust me, it's not necessary._ _ **Oh?**_ _These creeps have stolen four of my guild mates._ He thought back to the moments in the house dining room, joking with his friends. _Gorgamith… Serena…Bulltrue…Ben…_ He thought back to the kiss just seconds ago. _And now they've tried for Jade. No-one…NO-ONE…_ His eyes closed. _HURTS MY FAMILY!_

His eyes, feather and blade lit up with a flash of golden light so strong it was visible from the other side of the forest as he used his Wyverns tooth. The smoke was blown away, leaving a glowing Adamant alone in the clearing with three black clad figures. Figures that weren't as indistinguishable as he had previously thought.

Letting the flames dissipate, Adamant stared at the centre figure. " _Ben?"_

His 'captured' guild mate gave him a sheepish grin. "uuh…. Happy birthday?"

 **ROMANCE! ACTION! DITTIES! EXCITEMENT!**

 **Everything will be explained next chapter, but feel free to review if you've sussed out what's happening, or if you knew long before. Next chapter up pretty soon, it will be short. See y'all!**


	32. Chapter 31: The birthday hunt: pt 6

Disclaimer: If I owned SAO, I'd be sitting in my Japan mansion, not writing this.

Chapter 31: The Birthday Hunt Pt.6: Explanations.

"Ben! What the… did you... What!" Adamant blustered, his eyes darting around and noting Serena and Gorgamith, both very much alive and also in black costumes. Like Ben, they were also both in fits of laughter. "What is going on?" Ben was apparently typing out a message as he replied. "Well, if you'll wait just a second…" After a moment there was a blue flash, and when it dissipated, both Bulltrue and Jade appeared by the edge of the cliff, sopping wet. Naturally it didn't stop Jade from cannoning into Adamant at the average speed of a bullet train and wrapping her arms around him. "Really?" She yelled as he stumbled under her weight. "Of all times, you _finally_ kiss me when it's most dramatic, and-" She paused to slap him across the face.

"OW! What the-"

"That's for Sparta-kicking me off a cliff, butt wipe!"

"Wait, you've seen 'the 300'?"

Ben looked curiously at the friendly confrontation. "Uuh, so you don't wanna know what happened?" The pair immediately blushed, shut up and stood to attention, and Ben grinned at the power play. "Well, you can put the sword away, this wasn't a ridiculous build-up to a betrayal of the pair of you. Adamant and Jade, you have been on the receiving end of…" He paused for effect. "THE BIGGEST PRANK IN VR HISTORY!"

There was an awkward silence for a few moments in which Jade face palmed before Adamant exploded. "YOU A-HOLE! REALLY? WHY?"

Ben sighed. "Oh, this is gonna take a while…"  
._.

"The why is simple. Thanks to your antics, Argo the rat has _all_ the dirt on me. _All the dirt._ I was supposed to be mysterious, unreachable, that was how I was going to get her to like me-"

He noticed the raised eyebrows from the rest of the guild and cleared his throat self-consciously. "Anyway, all of us were kind of annoyed that you sold our biographies to the world, so we came up with a plan to prank you on your birthday."

"Question." Jade interrupted, mockingly raising her hand. "Why wasn't I included?"

Ben looked at her. "Would you really have helped?"

"Well, he did just kick me off a cliff."

"After kissing you in the most romantic location in the game."

Both Jade and Adamant blushed, Jade spluttering, "Well that's hardly relevant, I mean… wait, did you _plan_ for us to-"

"Moving on, we first had to prepare by writing the notes, getting the spooky costumes, clearing out the chests, et cetera, before moving onto stage one: Hat capture!" Ben retold the prank with such bravado you'd think he was discussing old war stories. "Serena was chosen to steal the bait, being the stealthiest, she actually had it in her inventory the entire time. How exactly did you realise it was missing so quickly?"

Adamant shrugged. "Tim."

There was a pause. _Now they think I'm crazy and omnipresent. Hi five!_ _ **No.**_ _You're boring._

"Anyway…" Ben continued. "Next was stage two, and Serena was the easiest to _extract_. She drops the blindfold-"

"I want that back by the way." Serena interrupted, looking at Jade. "This replacement is itchy." The albino wordlessly handed over the strip of black cloth she had recovered as Ben continued.

"Then leaves the poem, written by myself, by the way, and allows panic to run rampant. Of course, us four were putting it on, but still. We moved on to stage three. The lava corridor was an actual threat, but Gorgamith had practiced it a day or so earlier. All he had to do was slip out of eyesight, and boom, conspirator number two was gone!"

"The next bit's my favourite!" Bulltrue exclaimed, his posture reminiscent of a schoolboy listening to his teacher tell a story.

"It was also the hardest." Ben transitioned smoothly. "Stage four was the dual extraction of both myself and Bulltrue, and I was terrified pea brain was going to mess it up." ("Wait, wha!-") "There is a little known feature that allows you to poison certain mini bosses by making objects smell like food. Also great for making it harder to get at little poems! While you were picking up your monster-saliva covered card, Bulltrue teleported out. I then simply had to make it believable that some evil smokey figure had kidnapped him by acting terrified and pull of some excellent distractions in order to actually escape."

"Ooh, ooh, I wanna tell this part!" Serena jumped in, smiling, with her original blindfold back in place. "The triangles on the stump was an actual quest line, and the entry code changes daily, meaning I was up at midnight speed running the quest to get Ben the right triangle shapes. Anyway, I was on the ceiling of the stump grotto while you guys were in there, and it was me who killed the lights."  
Adamant frowned. "Where'd all the smoke come from?"

"Smoke bombs." Ben supplied. "Lots of smoke bombs, and I think it's my turn to speak again. Then, step five: back you against the cliff and look really intimidating. I was not expecting Adamant's little declaration-"

"Leave it or I'm kicking you over too."

"-But we managed to stay to the intended plan. Bulltrue was down at the bottom in case either of you jumped, and we figured that if Bulltrue and Gorgamith could beat you…"  
Adamant grinned. "Oh I lost that on purpose, I can take on the whole team if I'm ticked off enough."  
Ben couldn't help but gulp. "Yeah, so we discovered. We were planning to get you both on your knees in surrender before revealing the deception, but you kinda blew that." He grinned cheekily. "Still the most fun I've ever had though."

Adamant put his hand to his chin in a classic thinking position before slowly walking towards the forest. _Soooo… That was kinda evil… but at the same time… you gotta appreciate the effort…._ Ben blinked in confusion. "Sooo, what do you think?" Adamant stopped moving with his back turned to them. "I think..." He turned round, and they could all see his grin was splitting his cheeks. "Everyone's going over the cliff."

It took him five seconds (with the help of a certain dragon and albino) to hurl everyone down towards the water. He turned to Jade and offered her his hand which she happily accepted. He didn't notice the mischievous gleam in her eyes until she yanked him over the edge, jumping after him with a whoop. He was laughing all the way down, with the same thought looping round his head. _BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!_

 **Sorry it took so long to post. My bro was in hospital, school was starting, everything was insane...**

 **but I'm back, and laughing at all the reviews raging that it was all a prank, mwuhahaha et cetera. So yeah, its time to crank the tempo up. TIMESKIP, GO!**

 **(See y'all!)**


	33. Chapter 32: Forgiveness

Chapter 32: Forgiveness.

 _Front lines: floor 99. Players surviving: 6,115._

With a faked confused expression, Adamant walked up to the giant doors. Dozens of faces looked at him expectantly as he gazed around the antechamber, before saying "Is anyone else experiencing Deja-vu?" Ben's translation had multiple crowd members chuckling, and Adamant continued. "No, seriously, does anyone else feel like they've been here before?" His face lit up with mock realisation. "Oh yeah! It's because we've done this ninety-eight times before." Almost half the crowd suppressed snorts of laughter. "Meaning, I doubt there's anything I can say that I haven't before. You know what we need to do. I know what we need to do. So let's get in there and beat the strongest A.I the game has for us, shall we?" That remark met with cheers, and Adamant turned and shoved apart the double doors, entering the second to last boss chamber in the virtual world.

. _.

As he trooped in behind his guild leader, Gorgamith looked back at the group from his position at the front of the tanks and observed the remains of the clearers. Too many had died, and too few had taken their place. Of the nearly seventy players who had charged into Ill fang's lair on floor one, only forty had survived up to this point. All forty had hit level 100, but had then hit a snag. Only twenty of the mythrill spheres needed to progress to higher levels had appeared. Adamant and Kirito held half of them with five each, with the rest randomly dispersed among whichever player was lucky enough to find them. But while the clearers had reached their maximum potential, the monsters had kept growing stronger, and the usual ten level gap between players and boss had gradually shrunk. In the last floor boss fight, the boss only had to hit players once to kill them. On top of that, every boss room upwards of floor ninety had prevented teleportation, so no scouts had been able to figure out the boss' attack patterns. They were going in blind.

. _.

Adamant darted in first, his brain awash with the possible monstrosities Kayaba's twisted brain could have conjured up for a penultimate boss. Straight away, he could see this one would be different. Gone was the basic, flat floor of every fight so far. Multiple hexagonal platforms of different sizes and elevations were spread around the cavern, connected by staircases with an ominous lack of railings to stop falls into a seemingly bottomless pit. Four large purple crystal towers were situated at random points around the room, firing steady streams of purple energy at a (three metre tall!) humanoid figure floating several metres above the centre platform. Adamant let out a breath, and signalled to Gorgamith, who lead the tanks forward. When they came within a dozen metres of what appeared to be the boss, blue lightning arced from the figure towards the four crystals. It struck them with a crack, and four small purple crystal shards flew out of the larger towers and clattered to the floor on different platforms. The purple beams striking the boss figure stopped, and a field of energy grew around it as it touched to the floor. It wore the garb of a Viking, with a winged helmet, and it drew a hammer sparkling with electricity from its belt. Above its head was the name: Thor, God of thunder. Ben's distinctive whistle could be heard from the back. "Wow! The moment Kayaba's done with his death sentence, he's gonna have to pay marvel co-"

The rest was drowned out by a roar from the boss, who ran forwards, swinging its hammer in a vicious uppercut. Thor's target, one of the tanks, braced herself, but the force behind the strike launched her into the air and backwards towards the edge. Jade reacted quickly, dashing forwards and deliberately colliding with the poor woman, sending both sprawling away from the drop. Players had fallen from the boss platforms before. It was an instant kill.

Adamant was also thinking fast, yelling: "High Agility units! Get the purple crystals back in their slots!" He saw a cut from Bulltrue bounce right off the electrical shield and added: "They beams keep the boss's shield down! If the towers aren't complete, it's shielded, and we won't be able to hurt it!"

The battle soon became a game of hot-potato with the boss's agro. Thor would lock onto a target and pursue them mercilessly around the room unless someone else relieved the pressure by attacking Thor's shield. Staying out of the way of the swinging hammer wasn't enough however. Once a target was out of crushing range, Thor would fire a bolt of lightning to try and blast them from a distance, and the blast chained up to any additional players within a few metres. A man was slain with a crushing hammer blow to the head before Jade, Asuna, and a few others managed to grab the purple crystals and fit them back into their slots. When the last one fit in, the beams of energy crackled back to life and focused on Thor, shattering his shield. The titan of a boss didn't even flinch, but the clearers knew exactly what it meant. With a roar, they surrounded the boss and began to strike at it from every side. Adamant, activating his Wyvern's Tooth, leapt forwards and tore into it with as much ferocity as he could muster, which was a lot. Groaning in annoyance at the miniscule drop to its health bar, Thor swung his hammer at the golden glowing attacker. The blunt weapon crashed into the sharp, and Adamant was flung backwards, barely catching himself on the edge of the platform.

 _I just got straight up overpowered._ Adamant thought to himself, dejectedly.

 ** _This hostile appears to have 43% more attack power than you plus the Wyverns tooth modifier, and over 200 times your health._** Replied an oddly insistent voice in his head that he referred to as Tim.

 _You're being helpful now?_

 _ **You're being threatened now. It's in my best interests to keep you alive.**_

 ****After a few more seconds, Thor raised his hammer into the air, and lightning arced back to the crystal towers, breaking off another chunk. At once, the beams cut out, and Thor's crackling shield reformed.

 ** _You destroyed approximately 5% of its health bar._**

 _Really? 19 more- Grrr, just-_

 ** _Jump!_**

Tim's warning came just in time for Adamant to leap out of the way of a bolt of lightning that came searing towards him from the boss, and he sighed.

 _This is gonna take a while…_

._.

During the battle, a lot happened.

Jade and Adamant struck at Thor simultaneously, their combined assault staggering the boss and bathing the chamber with red and gold light…

Ben stumbled off the edge, but managed to catch the extended shaft of Serena's bow. She flashed him a smile before yanking him up and turning her weapon to the rampaging 'god'…

Gorgamith put himself between Thor's lightning beam and a wounded player. The energy was absorbed into the gilded shield he bore before he gave a grunt and was forced to discharge the energy into the floor and roll out of the way. Adamant threw the tank a questioning glance, to which he replied, "The shield can only take so much before I start taking damage. Nothing's ever hit the limit before!"…

 _Seriously, Tim, can anyone match this thing's power!_

Adamant thought as another player was sent flying by a furious blow from Thor.

 ** _My calculations suggest that no-one present has the power necessary to overcome the-_** With a roar; Bulltrue charged and swung his sword at Thor's hammer. There was an explosion at the impact point, and when the smoke cleared, Bulltrue stood in place while Thor staggered backwards.

 ** _…_** ** _Recalculating_** …

Shards of purple crystal were constantly falling, then being replaced, everyone running around like so many ants attacking a far larger insect. But two things were moving constantly. Thor's health gradually dropped. And players gradually died.

._.

Panting, Serena 'looked' at the battlefield from her perch on the highest platform. The forty players had been reduced to just over two dozen, but the boss had been whittled down to almost ten percent health. Hearing the cheer as Ben slam dunked the last crystal into its tower (flashy git.) She took aim at Thor and loosed a trio of arrows, using up every skill at her disposal. The first struck and conjured chains around the boss, the second froze the metal links, and the third blew them all apart. Thor grimaced as his health bar flashed, indicating a drop below 10%, and lightning flashed from him to the four crystals. Instead of removing a shard, however, it blasted all four into the abyss.

Serena gaped as the towers fell out of the range of her echolocation and sensed the electrical shield forming around Thor, but this time, the energy seemed to be absorbed inside it's body. It rose into the air, and, picking her out as its most recent attacker, it hurled a long beam of lightning towards her. She gave a small "Eep!" of surprise and rolled forwards, but the electricity chased her across the terrain. She dashed to the edge of her platform and leapt, her ample momentum sending her rolling away on a lower level. She turned her head up to Thor, noted that it was still locked onto her, and realised, with a curse, that it now had a predator agro. When it had a target, it didn't look at anything else until it killed. Roaring, the floating figure span it's hammer in a circle and flung it (and consequently, itself) directly at her. She dived away, now thanking her stars for every point she had invested in agility, as Thor rammed into the ground where she had just been. Two players, Adamant and someone similarly crazy, jumped after the boss while it was grounded, but after a few hits it simply swung its hammer irritably and knocked them both away. Adamant skidded to a stop, but the other smashed into the side of a platform, shattering into blue shards. Serena had barely started to get up when Thor returned to the air, leering down at her, and charged lightning at its hammer once again. Serena could do nothing but watch as a giant beam of electricity hurled downwards straight at her-

Adamant skidded to a stop as the unstoppable seeming force rocketed down… and met with an immovable object. Gorgamith stood there, grimacing, as his shield began to absorb the insane power of the attack, but the beam did not let up, and soon, his health began to trickle downwards. "Serena!" He yelled. "Move!" She did, but the beam moved with her, and Gorgamith was forced to stagger sideways to keep her from the deadly plasma. "Adamant!" The tank called next. "How much health will I have to lose to counter with enough strength to kill this thing?"

 _Tim?_

 ** _I've checked and rechecked the numbers, Adamant, but…_**

Adamant's face fell.

"Buddy." He called, regret filling every word. "It'll take all of it."

Many emotions flashed across the big tank's face. Disbelief, anger, sadness, then a sort of grim acceptance. His shield never wavering, he turned his head to the blind archer behind him. "Serena." His voice was low, but despite the crackling lightning and the ominous beeps as his health pushed inexorably towards zero, it could be heard by everyone nearby. "My sister… she was called Josie. And the only reason I truly saw you that first day, when my mind was all shut down, was because you reminded me of her." He sniffed. "But then I got to know you, and you weren't just a replacement for my sister. You're someone else." He was fully crying now, tears running down his once stoic features. "Another, beautiful person that I've come to love. And one I'm willing to die for." Serena couldn't stand just, well, _standing there,_ and rushed forwards, throwing her arms around him and burying her face in his neck. They stayed like that for a few seconds before an alert came from above his head, signalling _his_ health dropping below 10%, and she moved back again. "I've never even seen you with my eyes… but I know what you sound like. What you _feel_ like. Who you are… Is there anything I can do?"

He looked at her. "Not now. Just, when you get out… and you _will,_ go and find my parents. Get to know them. Tell them I'm sorry about Josie. And maybe, if they forgive me… I'll be able to forgive myself." Somehow, he managed to smile at her, and she saw it. Her echolocation had been plotting every angle of his face and committing them to memory. Then he turned back to the boss, and, just as the last sliver of his health was chipped away, he thrusted his shield forwards. A sphere of energy, glowing every colour in existence, rocketed outwards. The beam of lightning, now seeming positively flimsy, did nothing to stop the attack as it streaked towards Thor, ploughing into and through the floating figure and blowing its remains to the far walls of the room. Around the chamber, players cheered as celebratory messages and items appeared in their inventories. Leaving Serena stood there, her arms held out, as the shards of the one person she had truly _seen,_ slipped through her fingers.

 **NOOOOOOOOO!**

 **GG NOOOOOO!**

 **YOU HAD SO MUCH TO LIVE FOR!**

 **Nooo...**

 **sniff. Please follow and fave.**

 **sniff sniff. next chapter up Friday.**

 **sniff. Oh god, I'm a di-**


	34. Chapter 33: Gladiators

Chapter 33: Gladiators.

 _Top floor: 100. Players surviving: 5, 956._

Serena had to admit, when her mind felt up to it, that Kayaba had put a lot of effort into designing the final floor of his world. Named 'The Jade Palace' by the game master at the start of the game, floor 100 had no monster spawns, no dungeons, and no quests. The entire floor was one giant palace, built almost entirely of beaten gold. There were gardens, pools, fancy restaurants, and rooms with glass floors which allowed you a top down view of a floor of your choice. But there were also gyms, an arena, training rooms; vendors selling the best equipment money could buy. There was no mistaking that this was the final area before the final boss. The magnificent surroundings were lost on Serena, however.

 _Maybe if they forgive me… I'll be able to forgive myself._ The words bounced around her brain, as they had been for the last twelve hours. After climbing to the new level, the clearers had spent the evening exploring this beautiful new place before retiring. Serena hadn't even bothered. Hiring a room in an expensive hotel, she had just shut her eyes. Praying for sleep to take her. But that last battle haunted her dreams, and there, her imagination was free to play out in vivid colour what her eyes had denied to her. _How much health will I have to lose?... Buddy… it'll take all of it._

She had come close to isolating herself from the pain, from everything, like Gorgamith once had. But she had refused to. He had sacrificed himself to get her out safe and happy. She wouldn't deny him that.

That thought was what made her get up that morning, when a message from Adamant summoned her, and all the clearers, to a meeting in that floor's war room.

._.

Adamant looked out over the room. Weary acceptance was what dominated the faces of most of them, but with a higher amount of tension than he had seen since floor one. He gave a nostalgic sigh.

 _How much time has passed since then…_

 ** _Two years, ten months, four days and ten hours._**

 _We've grown so much…_

 _ **Your body IRL has likely completed puberty, but your in-game avatar has not changed.**_

 _Tim?_

 _ **Yes?**_

 _I'm reminiscing. Shut up._

Adamant drew his sword and rapped it against the ground with a loud clang, silencing the chamber. "Ladies and gentlemen." He began, relying on Ben to translate for him. "I would like to thank you.

Ever since my party of six was formed, until yesterday, we had suffered no casualties. And yet, in order to defeat the boss of floor 99, I lost a good friend. Gorgamith."

He paused, and Jade gave his hand a comforting squeeze. He smiled at her, and continued. "At first I raged at the injustice of it all. At how unfair it was that a virtual jumble of zeros and ones had killed a real, good person. But then I realised that I needed to stop being so selfish." He raised his head and looked into the eyes of everyone there, one by one. "Because it didn't just happen to GG. It happened to 4,044 people. And I realised that many of you in this room have gone through exactly what I have, some of you, multiple times. And I would like to thank you for staying and fighting, even when your brothers and sisters in arms were cut down beside you." He paused again, letting his words sink in. He saw many people with tears on their cheeks, and Serena's blindfold appeared a far darker black than usual.

"However." He let that one word hang for a moment to quieten the mutters and sniffles. "I am pleased to announce that you may not have to experience that again."

There was a confused eruption of noise from the crowd. He continued. "Scouts have gone up to the tip of Aincrad where the final battle with Kayaba will be held. No more than one person may come close to the doors, and they are inscribed with words I'm both glad, and worried about. 'The final battle of Sword Art Online will be a one on one duel.'"

The swell of voices at that was so loud that it took Bulltrue striking the floor to quieten them.

"Yes, that means what you think it means." Adamant yelled as the murmurings waned. "A champion will be selected by the clearers to take on Kayaba, or Heathcliff as his character goes by, in a duel to the death. And while many of you will be eyeing certain people for this job," (Kirito and Adamant himself received many meaningful glances.) "We can't just hand this to the player with the biggest ego if more talented people are available. I suggest a tournament."  
That remark was met with stunned silence. "A series of one on one battles with random opponents. Use a battle type that makes levels and gear irrelevant and end the fight by dropping the opponent to half health. The winner gets all the money and special loot he or she needs from the losers to outfit their self as powerfully as possible and takes on Heathcliff. I can see no fair alternative. Can any of you?" There was silence. "Then let's make this a vote. Those who agree to use a tournament to decide the champion, say aye."

"AYE!" Practically everyone yelled.

"Alright then. Argo!" He called out to the diminutive information broker skulking in the corner. "Get it organised. I'm sure you'll make a fortune from seat prices." He turned away from the grinning girl and looked at the group at large. "One last thing. While I hate to insult your honour by suggesting this, it is possible some of you may decide to throw a match to avoid the danger of the final fight. So I ask you. If you _are_ the best, and another player dies because you don't apply yourself… will you really be able to live with yourself?" Leaving them at that, he turned around to confer with his guild in a language the masses couldn't understand. "Holy cow." Ben exclaimed, clapping his hands in appreciation. "You are really good at working a crowd."

Adamant shrugged. "Well I learned from the best."

"…Me?"  
"Heathcliff."  
"Right…"  
Adamant turned to Serena. "I don't want to force you to do this, but-"  
"Oi!" Exclaimed Serena. "Gorgamith…Died. And it really _hurts,_ ya know?"

Adamant nodded, and she continued. "But I'm not gonna give up and leave the fighting to others because of it. If anything, this just gives me another chance to kill the man who did this."

"Amen to that." Ben quipped.

Adamant clapped his hands together. "Right then. Let's get this show on the road."

 **Oh come on. You wanted a tournament as much as i did.**

 **Please review about who you want to see fighting who, and i'll try to make them all interesting. favouriting and following also helps my ego, aand its about time i grew one of those. See y'all!**


	35. Chapter 34: The two jokers

Chapter 34: The two jokers.

Whistling appreciatively, Ben wandered into the sands of the arena. It wasn't as big as some sport stadiums he had seen in his time, only needing to accommodate ten thousand people, but while real life stadiums had to worry about costs, one virtual asset was the same as any other. Marble pillars stretched up marking the circumference, with gold decorating any surface that was available. Each seat was far more luxurious than the wooden benches of old, or, worse, the plastic chairs of a modern football, soccer, or football stadium.

Argo was really making a fortune from this event. Take even a small price and multiply it by over six thousand, and you have a recipe for money. She hadn't even given Ben a portion of the profits for his fights so far. Still, she had probably used all the excess on fixing the matches. I mean really, there was no way a random number generator would have pit him against Klein, the clearers _second_ best jokester.

._.

"Greetings, fellow idiot." Ben called in Japanese, mockingly bowing to his opponent. "Normally, professional courtesy would not allow me to attack you, but fate and a certain info broker has dictated that I must-"

"Did you plan this speech?" Klein interrupted.

Ben huffed, looking put out. "Yeah. And it took me awhile. I have someone to impress." Klein chuckled. "By 'someone', do you mean every female present?"

Ben recoiled. "Klein! You insult me! I would never act that disrespectfully! It's a very specific female!"

The pair laughed for a few seconds before their attention was drawn by a whistle from bottom of the stands. They turned to see Lisbeth grinning at them, with Argo whispering in her ear. "Hey boys!" The blacksmith called. "Apparently, a certain rat is offering a kiss to the winner of this match." Ben and Klein stared at Lisbeth. Then they stared at each other. Then they stared at Argo, who gave them a wink.

" _That_ specific female?" Klein asked.

"That one." Ben replied.

And then, yelling battle cries, they charged at each other.

._.

Ben grimaced, as Klein fell for his clumsy feint but _still_ managed to block his swipe. For all his apparent clumsiness, Klein was fast, as Ben could testify from when the samurai style fighter duelled with Serena earlier in the competition.

 _Earlier…_

 _Serena hooked Klein's katana with her bow, spun him around, and kicked from his back, knocking and firing an arrow as she flew backwards. Klein, recovering quickly, brought his sword up and cut the shaft out of the air. Serena landed with a grimace as her awareness perks helpfully reminded her that her attack had been nullified. His reaction time had nothing on Adamant's, but it was enough._

I need something that travels faster, _She thought, annoyed, moving to a kneel. Drawing a bead on him, she fired repetitively, but he continued to approach at a run, unfazed by the projectiles._ Like a freaking sniper rifle. _When he was upon her, she noted the_ twin slice _skill he activated, and rolled barely out of the way of the downward cut. Instantly, she jumped back towards him and balanced on the top edge of his sword. Naturally his reflex was to yank his blade upwards; hurling her into the air… but that was her plan all along. Drawing a special arrow, she fired directly down at him. He jerked backwards and the projectile hit the floor in front of him-_

 _And exploded with a flurry of frozen shards, trapping his lower half (and sword arm) in ice. Serena waited no time after landing before charging her bow with white light. Turning to him, she saw him manoeuvring himself into some really weird positions. Mentally she shrugged. It wouldn't save him from her 'coup de grace'. Aiming her bow skywards, she fired an arrow imbued with a power unlockable only with maximum awareness and archery skills._ Firework shaft. _Suitable, if tame compared to the power of the attack. The arrow flew straight upwards, before splitting in a flash into a dozen other projectiles, which immediately arced back downwards towards the trapped Klein. Serena looked back towards the panicked samurai, and was notified of something weird._ How is he using a sword skill? _She wondered. Then she realised why Klein had been wriggling so much. His contortions had placed him in a barely acceptable position to activate something she did not like one bit. The dozen arrows, homing in from a dozen different directions, struck, causing a plume of smoke which obscured the scene to everyone except Serena. Klein triggered a spin strike, shattering the ice surrounding him, and detonating the shafts one by one. Grimacing at her paralysis after launching such a powerful (yet wasted) attack, Serena could do nothing but wait as Klein hurled his sword toward her-_

 _Now…_

Ben was jolted out of his reverie as Klein's blade came crashing down against his, staggering him backwards. _I'm not losing this, damnit, THINK!_ Ben mentally berated himself, catching Klein's katana with his khopesh and hooking it away. Naturally, it didn't take long for a solution to come that fit his style. Pushing Klein away, he made to charge a sword skill, before looking over his opponents shoulder and giving a surprised jolt. "Holy cow, Asuna's topless!" Naturally, Klein looked over his shoulder. It only gave Ben a split second, but he had already started a slash that severed Klein's sword arm. _He doesn't feel pain_ Ben was forced to remind himself. _And it'll regrow._ Still desperate, Klein swung a punch with his remaining arm, but Ben was having none of it, knocking the limb away and hacking at Klein's chest. The last strike was all it took to drop the samurai's health below half, winning the match for Ben. He smiled at his felled opponent. "Better luck next time. Excuse me; I have a reward to cash in." He walked proudly to the edge of the stands, and gave Argo his most charming grin. "So… do I get the kiss here or back at your place?" He asked. Argo smirked down at him. "Here of course. Close your eyes." Ben shrugged and complied. After a moment, his lips made contact.

He probably should have noticed something was wrong when everyone began guffawing with laughter, but didn't get a sinking feeling until the rodent squeaked.

 **OOOOH! *Airhorns* *Party poppers* Sword-art-best-prank-twenny-twenny-something!**

 **Please subscribe for more prank wars**

 **So yeah, continue to review with duel hype as i dont automatically make my OC's better than normal characters! THats gotta be worth a favourite, right? Whatever, see y'all!**


	36. Chapter 35: Gambling on honour

Chapter 35: Gambling on Honour.

Jade stretched in the (thankfully luxurious) spectator seat and rested her head against Adamant's shoulder, looking into the arena where Bulltrue was squaring off against Agil, the game's most imposing merchant. She should have been psyching herself up for her next battle, but the two most heavily muscled (statistically and physically) players present were in that arena. It was bound to last a while…

._.

With a roar, both players charged each other, broadsword and axe lit up with blue fire and red plasma respectively. Jade leaned forwards, curious… which turned out to be a bad idea. Agil swung his axe in a colossal uppercut, which was met by a dynamic downward smash from Bulltrue, which caused enough smoke to fill the entire arena and blind half of the spectators. When, coughing, Jade was able to wave the stuff away (getting some irritating flashbacks to 'the incident with the birthday hunt') she was able to see that, somehow, neither competitor had moved. The duo, weapons locked in between themselves, were engaged in an epic power struggle, waves of energy from either side blown upwards and to the sides as neither side were capable of overcoming the other. At that point, Bulltrue's method of thinking became apparent. Disengage? No. that would be like losing. Keep going? The entire floor would collapse before either gave an inch. Conclusion. Hit harder.

So, to the amazement of the crowd, he took one hand off of his sword hilt. His remaining arm shook under the pressure, not just from holding the blade, but from Agil's relentless assault. However, to the amazement of the Axe wielder, the arm held. Shaking under the effort, Bulltrue brought his other arm back and curled it into a fist. Instantly, yellow flames curled around the fingers.

Jade gaped. _Unarmed? Surely he isn't going to-_ With a roar, Bulltrue brought his fist forward and smashed it into his blade. The metal shattered under the strike, but the combined force blasted the shards into Agil. The grape shot of projectiles bodily hurled him backwards into the side of the arena. The whole fight took around 10 seconds.

._.

Letting out a breath as the 'winner' icon appeared over Bulltrue's head; Jade shrugged, stood up, and walked towards the sands. Behind her, Adamant sent a private message to Kirito, sat a row in front of him, knowing that the text had an auto-translate. The black clad beater glanced at the pop up just in front of him, smiled, looked up at Adamant and nodded. Returning the smile, Adamant turned towards the sands.

._.

Jade walked forwards, paying no attention to the crowds, and locked eyes with her opponent. Asuna's face betrayed a slight smile, before she gave a low bow. Jade copied her, and drew her blade in one fluid movement. Then, in a blink, they were clashing swords.

Blink and you missed five attacks. The two fastest players in the game spun, slashed and countered faster than most of the spectators could comprehend, and those that could, maintained rapt attention for the entire fight. Jade herself could barely understand it, she was operating entirely on reflex. It was like reacting to touching something hot without thinking, but for a lot longer. _Well._ She thought, _if I'm not using my mind for fighting, let's use it for strategy._ Years ago, at the start of the game, Adamant had described Asuna as 'a blur half the time, lightning the other half.' Daily training of her skills had improved that further, it seemed, based on how easily she performed ridiculously acrobatic manoeuvres. But Jade was no slacker. She had been duelling since before she had _heard_ of the nerve-gear, but she had learned how to fight people, not just some random monster with two or three attacking options. And she knew how to _read_ someone. She had been analysing Asuna's technique in every single boss fight they had seen. And noticed something.

Jade struck again, her sword scraping off of Asuna's, the minute damage registering as a blocked attack, before swerving out of the way of a counterattack. _Asuna's far too proud._

Simplifying her movements, Jade transformed the battle into a simple back-and-forth of strikes and counters, dodging or redirecting her opponent's attacks. _She'd rather take every attack head on, and lose a little health each time, than dodge, because it feels like running away..._

Suddenly, after blocking a particularly close strike, Asuna's eyes flickered up to the top right in alarm, just where her health bar would be, and Jade could imagine her surprise at the dramatic dip in her health bar. She did not let her imagination limit that opening though. Charging her blade with red light, she darted in and to Asuna's off hand, scoring a light scratch on her shoulder. She saw her opponent grimace as she darted in again, then again. She had to give it to Asuna, she didn't get flustered and lose her composure after the first hit. But she wasn't going to recover. Jade could see it in her eyes. Swiping upwards until she was above, Jade executed the final attack of _thorn of the rose_ , knocking Asuna to the floor and stabbing into her back.

From the stands, Kirito grimaced as Jade flipped off of her felled opponent and gave a victory bow to the crowds. Sighing, he materialised a bag of gold from his inventory and chucked it behind him to where he knew Adamant sat, grinning. Then he stood up and walked away, hoping now that Jade _wouldn't_ be defeated until he got the opportunity to fight her. He was very keen to avenge his 'wife's defeat, and vent his anger on the girl who lost him 100,000 col.

 **DONT KILL ME I CAN EXPLAIN- *kill +100 headshot+10 total=110 we ran out of medals, someone should probably do something about** ** _reviewer23*_**

 **Hey, i got a puppy, (look like whitepaw from my destiny fic? i wish...) getting these things housebroken takes time. Of course, you know who's going to duke it out next chapter. Review please, they're fun, and... hey... we haven't heard aboout dylan for a while...**


	37. Chapter 36: The champion

Chapter 35: The champion.

Adamant hurled his sword into the air, grabbed Silica's knife hand when she went in for a lunge and twisted it until the blade fell out of her fingers. A half second later, the sword came down and severed it at the elbow. She gave a small shriek (the visual shock was enough, even without any pain) and, wincing himself, he pinned her against the wall with one leg. "Shut up a sec, I'm watching the show!" She gave him a confused look, before turning her head to the centre of the arena, where two large dragons were still fighting. Because _of course_ Adamant had wanted to let the dragons join the fight, because **_they are awesome._**

While, to Adamant's chagrin, neither was big enough to carry their owners in flight, both dragons had grown significantly. Dylan landed in the sands of the arena, gave a full blown roar and breathed a foot wide column of flame from his maw. Screeching, the blue-green feathered dragon twirled out of the way of the attack and flew upwards. Dylan took off and flew up in pursuit, quickly escaping through the top of the arena. Players craned their necks to see as the pair flew higher, Dylan gradually gaining on his adversary. At no apparent signal, Pina halted her flaps, halting her ascent, and began to plummet towards Dylan, who didn't slow his pace at all. With a roar and a screech, they clashed-

Dylan spun aside, avoiding the brunt of the impact-

And they were both falling, grappling at each other as they fell.

Silica looked, worried, at the rapidly growing figures of their dragons as they plummeted downwards. Adamant simply stared, a small smile on his lips.

When they were barely above the arena again, Pina loosed a desperate jet of flame, roaring triumphantly, Dylan twisted away, and then clamped down on Pina's exposed neck with his teeth, jerking her downwards, and disengaging. Pina crashed into the ground, a 'defeated' notification appearing above her, as Dylan calmly landed in front of Adamant and Silica, and pricked the girl in the chest with a talon. It was enough damage to drop her health below 50%. As Silica trudged off dejectedly, Adamant was too busy crushing his dragon in a hug. He was tense though. He knew what was coming up next.

._.

The crowd was silent. If they could get away without breathing, they wouldn't have done that. The people had wanted to see this for a _very_ long time, and no-one was going to try and spoil it. Well, except-

"So yeah." Ben said conversationally. "Who do you thing has the better fash-mmph!" Bulltrue clamped a meaty paw over his head, and gestured for the fighters to continue. Adamant sighed at his teammates antics. "Sorry pal." He called to his opponent. "My friends are… weird." Across from him, not understanding the language, but, getting the sentiment, Kirito smiled. Then accepted the battle request, which caused a minute timer to begin ticking down, and drew his black steel blade, Elucidator, from its scabbard. Then Adamant saw Kirito's hand fall to the second blade at his hip. Expression shifting, finding the steel logic inside his mind, he struck his own sword against the ground. When Kirito tried to draw his second sword, it wouldn't budge from its scabbard. **_Dual wielding is a skill, which iron field neutralises._** _Huh. Thanks Tim._ _ **I have also catalogued everything you know of his fighting style and technique. You're welcome.**_

Kirito readied a two handed grip on his primary sword. Adamant opened his icy blue eyes. The timer hit zero. And they clashed.

They met at the perfect midpoint of their starting positions with Elucidator and WyrmEdge locked between them. Neither gave, but Adamant was the first to discharge, sweeping his opponents blade left then swinging a vicious horizontal slash. Kirito spun round and brought his blade back, the flat edge at an identical angle to Adamant's own. Kirito gripped the flat tip of his blade with his off hand and shoved, knocking his foe's blade back, but Adamant simply kicked off the floor, went horizontal two feet above the air, and pushed off the blade backwards, handspringing into a ready stance as Kirito came at him again.

 ** _Interesting. You and he both have the same distribution of skill points between attack and speed._** _That's because it's the best configuration, and we both knew it from the start._

Kirito struck high, Adamant scraped it off his own blade to the left and spun with another cut, Kirito dodged backwards (receiving a light scratch across the stomach) and Adamant pursued with a thrust that was turned away, Kirito delivering a very simple elbow to the head before bringing his blade downwards in a smash attack which Adamant jumped away from-

Ben and Bulltrue tore their eyes away to exchange significant glances. This was going to take a while.

._.

 _Somewhere IRL._ Adamant thought. _A doctor is going to be really concerned about my heart rate at the moment-_ _ **You're wasting your attention. Focus!**_ Fortunately, ignoring the searing pain in your lungs and keeping your breathing even was far easier when it was proven that it had no actual effect on your avatar. This was why he had been exchanging roughly three blows per second for the last ten minutes and wasn't, well, passed out on the floor. His light armour was rent in numerous places with small red gashes, and the same was true for his opponent. Sure, they both had a regeneration effect, but new cuts definitely came faster than they could shrink and disappear. So far, whoever was on the offensive would continue to overbear the other until they scored a light hit, but doing so sacrificed that offensive and gave the opponent a chance to counterattack. _At this rate, the winner will be decided by a lucky hit._ _ **Then change the formula.**_ _You mean drop the iron field?_ _ **Yes, and you can choose when it happens, which gives you an advantage.**_ _But will his dual wielding beat my Wyvern's tooth?_ _ **I can't calculate that!**_ For the first time, actual strain appeared in Tim's voice. **_You humans have so little processing power!_** Choosing to ignore that last comment, Adamant focused on the battle. Choosing a moment when he couldn't _quite_ get through his opponent's guard, Adamant thought back to his (now default) memory of his first kiss. The iron field, incapable of operating while that was his mind frame, ended, and his feather, blade, and eyes flashed with golden flames. A boost of speed suffused him and he slid right past Kirito's blade and cut along his shoulder. Following through with a flurry of attacks, Adamant smashed Kirito's sword left and right, sparks flickering off the points of contact, before preparing for a final strike-

But Kirito wasn't falling that easily, with a quick twist, he manoeuvred his blade into a position to trigger a repulse sword skill, sliding Adamant backwards several paces. It only took a half second for him to recover, but when he did, he saw that Kirito had already drawn his other sword. He couldn't help but laugh. _Now_ this _is going to be fun._ _ **You're prioritising entertainment value over-**_ But Adamant was already moving, and two swords came to meet him.

._.

Two blades struck one-

One blade was deflected, the other dodged-

Both were avoided and a golden cut was launched in return-

And throughout it all, Adamant grinned. He was faster, and stronger, but less versatile in his attacks than Kirito. Using simple skills began a cooldown before that skill could be used again, and left you temporarily exposed afterwards, but not if another skill was used directly afterwards. A level 100 like Kirito would have enough skills to use many consecutively and then have his first finish its cooldown, giving him an endless combo of attacks. The trick was to use them in a random enough pattern that the opponent did not realise your attack before you used it. Naturally, when you had two swords and could use skills with either, it gave you a serious advantage, as did having the fastest reaction time in the game. (It was why he had received the dual wielding, after all.) Kirito probably should have been the strongest duellist in the game… if Adamant hadn't unwittingly cheated to get Wyvern's tooth. This was why every colour of the rainbow clashed with the unwavering gold... and the gold held.

Adamant spun his blade in a figure eight, deflecting two incoming strikes, and then brought his blade in an uppercut strong enough to lift Kirito off his feet. (And send him several feet into the air.) While airborne, the dual wielder triggered his skills and fired two waves of light from the blades. Adamant brought up his blade and cut the strikes out of the air, but Kirito had enough time to regain his balance.

 _He's not going down, I've tried everything!_

 ** _If you get him to trigger his special skill-_**

 _He has one of those?_

 ** _My, aren't you unobservant? The point is that it's very all or nothing. Trigger iron field when he uses_** **starburst stream** ** _, and he will be vulnerable enough for you to finish this._**

 _If I drop Wyvern's Tooth, I'm screwed._

 ** _Do you observe any effective alternatives?_**

Adamant locked blades with Kirito again, before discharging with a shower of sparks.

 _Okay, how?_

 ** _Threatening his wife should work-_**

 _Not happening._

 ** _Then make him think there's no alternative! Taunt him!_**

 _In English?_

 ** _You_** **are** ** _unobservant. Three years surrounded by Japanese people and you…sigh, repeat after me._**

._.

Kirito launched another sword skill, and then cursed at Kayaba, his desperation gradually increasing. Each time you used an individual sword skill in combat, its cooldown length marginally increased. He _couldn't_ hold out forever, but at the rate both of their HP bars were dropping, he should last long enough to finish this-

Or so he thought, until Adamant locked blades with him, and began speaking in Japanese. "Well you are nowhere as good as I had hoped." Kirito blanched, and received a cut on the shoulder for it. Attacking with renewed vigour, he noticed that Adamant's technique became… lazier, somehow. "I mean really." Adamant continued, his tone condescending. "Kayaba singles you out to be the hero of this game, gives you a unique skill and everything, and you respond with this?" Adamant launched a vicious strike which sent Kirito stumbling back a few steps. (The damage received was barely noticeable, but Kirito wasn't exactly focusing on it.) "Is this really all you can do? Or am I going to have to beat this game for you?" Kirito practically snarled, _why_ this apparently nice guy's first words to him were so… unfair… he didn't know, but he was asking for this… Triggering a final repulse skill, he moved his blades into just the right position…

._.

 ** _He's starting the skill._** _Wow, I'm surprised that worked._ _ **He believes himself to be the 'hero', of course that's his response when you say he's unworthy; now, you'll need to time this perfectly…**_

Kirito's blades charged with a bright blue and seemed to lengthen, doubling in size and humming with energy. Adamant exhaled, preparing to finish this, and charged. The two met in the centre, gold striking blue, and Adamant could _feel_ that Kirito's attack was stronger than his own, but he held regardless, and brought all three blades upwards with a shower of glowing sparks- **Now!** _–_ called Tim and Adamant reached for the iron-

But.

Part of him still clung to that warm memory. And in the back of his mind, a debate seemed to be taking place he couldn't fully understand.

 _-But it was-why can't you-why can't_ you- _don't you-must you be-just that-Acceptable-_

And with that, something inside him clicked. Iron field triggered, he could tell because the energy in Kirito's blades shattered, and his second sword fell to the floor as though it had gained an unbearable weight, but Adamant's blade was _still burning._ He knocked Kirito's blade aside, then severed the sword arm at the wrist. – _but what about—_ And the flame was gone, whatever equilibrium he had achieved disrupted, but it wasn't going to slow him down now. Giving a yell, Adamant brought his blade in an uppercut, sending him backwards, then reversed his grip and stabbed down.

 _ **MORTAL COMBAAAT! DAHN, DAHN, DAHN, DAHN, DAADAAA DAHN,DAHN,DAHN,DAHN,DAAADAAA-**_

And with that, the tournament is over, and Adamant's brain goes from rocket science complicated to time travel complicated. I should be getting back to my norrmal weekly schedule after this point, so this chapter is extra long to compensate for my previous puppy induced writers block. Please fave, follow, and review, cos reviews are fun. see y'all!


	38. Chapter 37: Burning Iron

Chapter 36: Burning Iron.

It was ten in the evening, and Jade, cautious, crept down the stairs to the living room. The house was silent, or, it would have been, in a perfect world. In a perfect world there probably would have been mysterious music playing in the background, like 'red like roses' from an anime she watched once. But of course, despite Kayaba's attempts, this wasn't a perfect world, and so the silence of the darkened house was broken by the sound of incessant crunching.

"Ahem!" Jade, stood there, still in full armour, with her hands on her hips, the complete antithesis of the scene before her, which was Adamant, in his pyjamas, in a den made of pillows (Jade hadn't done that since she was six) with a cookie halfway to his open mouth. "Uuuh… Want one?" Adamant gestured to the tin on the table in front of him. Jade sighed, and moved forwards to flop on the sofa beside him. "I thought we agreed early bedtime?" Adamant sighed, "I know what we said, _mum_ , but I couldn't sleep." Jade snorted, and then reached for a cookie herself. "Heaven forbid I have to deal with being _your_ mother-" She suddednly remembered that his mother was currently in a coma, and jammed her big mouth with the cookie.

 _Subject change._

 _Yup._

"Speaking of dealing with stuff, how can you spend half your time killing murderers and amputating competitors-nice job winning that, by the way- and then the other half, well, making a pillow den."

Inside Jade's mind, an argument was taking place.

 _Totally changed subject._

 _Shut it you-wait, I have a voice in my head?_

 _...damnit._

Outside Jade's mental dilemma, Adamant chuckled. "Well, it may or may not be because I have an alien in my head."

...

 _What!?_

 _Adamant knows?!-crap-I mean, well isn't that a surprise._

 _You're an alien inside my head and Adamant has one too?_

 _...uhh, what will you do if I say yes?_

Adamant looked at her gaping mouth (cookie crumbs falling out) and was about to say something like "you're wasting a ten col cookie, y'know." But was interrupted by a sound sort of like the air escaping a balloon for half a second, before a cacophony of crashes and thuds. Adamant turned expectantly to the stairs, where Ben and Bulltrue tumbled into the living room in a tangle of limbs. "Guuh." Ben muttered, partially crushed by his larger friend, who immediately scrambled off him and dived towards the cookie jar. "Bulltrue smelled cookies-" ("In His Sleep!?" cried Adamant and Jade.) "-and then you two were having a deep conversation, so I stopped him, and then, Aliens?"

Adamant shrugged. "Yeah, I guess I'm insane. Help yourselves to the cookies- Bulltrue I didn't mean five!-"

Soon the four were all sat on the sofa and had mostly destroyed Adamant's pillow fort to use it as cushions. "My theory is." Adamant began again, "That my brain has basically polarised itself now there's two parts to it. Tim- that's what I call the voice- is very logical, a little cynical, and has apparently learned Japanese. I think my subconscious basically associates everything vaguely adult seeming with him, from understanding how people will react to my speeches, to the best way to kill everyone in the room, and yes, he does that."

Jade's virtual stomach started digesting the cookie while her mid started digesting what he said.

 _Am I going to start doing that?_

 _You already have. Anyone who goes through something traumatic tries to repress it, tries to not think how they do on the battlefield. Having me here will probably make it easier though._

 _…_ _change of subject, but what am I gonna call you?_

 _You should use something cool like-_

 _Barbara._

 _…_ _Screw you._

Adamant continued. "But, when I was fighting Kirito, something changed. For a moment, it was like the two parts… reconciled. When they did, I could use Wyvern's Tooth and Iron field at the same time. Power myself, and limit my opponents…I don't think I'm the best player without it." Bulltrue, stuffing the remains of his cookie into his mouth, reached for the last one there, but an arrow pierced the tablecloth between his outstretched fingers and the treat. The four turned to see Serena leap down the last few stairs.

"I don't suppose you could be any louder?" She asked, sighing, before grabbing the cookie away from the undeterred Bulltrue. "So what's got you so worked up?"

"Adamant's got an alien alter ego." Ben filled in. Serena didn't even blink, not that they could tell. "Uh-huh. And I suppose that caused the accidental cheating with the unique skills?" Nods from around the table. "You know none of this makes any sense, right?" That had everyone laughing.

Jade thought for a moment.

 _Combining his logic with his emotion…_

She turned to him. "Hey Adamant, go into your iron field mode, and try and hold it through what happens next, okay?"

He gave her a questioning glance, then shrugged, closed his eyes, and straightened his posture. "I'm ready." And then she kissed him. He tensed up for a moment, and then barely relaxed. When she leaned back, (hearing Ben mutter something like 'get a room, jeez') she saw his eyes flash golden for a moment, before returning to icy blue. "Well?" She asked.

Adamant visibly shook off the pseudo-emergency mode and frowned. "That was…weird." He smiled. "Not entirely unpleasant, though."

For some reason, that made her blush. "Oh, shut up!" She muttered, grabbing a pillow and throwing it at him. He caught it and threw it back, but she darted out of the way and it hit Bulltrue. At which point, pandemonium broke loose.

It was almost an hour later when Adamant actually got to bed, but it was a better sleep than he'd had in a while.

 **I figured you could use a break from incessant fighting, so now you are just completely confused by what's happening! Unless you're not, in which case, nice, have a cookie. Next chapter begins the confrontation between Adamant and Heathcliff, and will finally give you some answers about what the cark is going on with Adamant's brain. See y'all!**


	39. GAG CHAPTER: BANHAMMER

**Warning! The following is a Gag chapter. It means that it is not Actually part of the story. The actual fight will be coming out soon.**

Gag chapter: The Ban Hammer.

Adamant stood before Heathcliff. "One question. Why did you do this?"  
Heathcliff shrugged. "I dunno LOL."

Adamant blinked. "Okay, what about the voices in my head?"

"Yeah, you're just insane."

"Uuuh… okay, why are you using a hammer? I thought you fought with a sword?"

Heathcliff chuckled. "Well… you kept cheating. _Kirito_ was supposed to be the main character of this game. So now I've got to bring you down with the full force of Admin-ness. So I boosted my attack to 10X the maximum possible for normal players."

"Oh sod off!"

"And so, as to why I changed my weapon. Why, I thought it was appropriate. This… is my Ban Hammer!"

"SON OF A!"

 ** _THWAK!_**

._.

Heathcliff then proceeded to OKO Jade, Ben, Bulltrue, and Serena, before Kirito brought him down with the power of love. At least, that's what he _said_ , he meant that he used a sword skill that attacked enemies with the same strength as they attacked him (Heathcliff forgot to boost his defence, crazy sociopath.)

Serena's parents were heartbroken at both their kids dying, Ben never made another pun to Bulltrue, Adamant and Jade never learnt each other's true names, all the crazy sequels and spinoffs I had planned would never happen, and the heroes remained untold. The end.

 **Sue me, i was bored.**


	40. Chapter 38: Answers

Chapter 38: Answers.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Today is the final day we will have to stand before a really big door! We have come far, and stood before many doors to get here! Some people have stood before doors, entered… and never left. And now, none of you shall need to stand before a door again! For I am Door von Standinfront! And I have come to free you from this door filled prison, return you through the door of VR and-"

"Adamant! Stop milking it! The joke is three years old now!"

"You're acting three years old!"

"We get it! You're tired of standing before boss doors, it's not funny!"

Adamant sighed as the eyes of the crowd turned towards Ben with a mixture of thanks and reproach. "Ben? I've just learned how to speak Japanese. This is my one chance to actually talk to the people without you twisting my words into puns and innuendo."

"You have officially wasted your one chance."

"Well if that isn't a bad omen, I don't know what is."

Adamant stood before the highest room layer in the whole game, a spire stretching above it into the perpetual clouds above, though bright light still managed to light up the terrain (It was the only floor where actual sun was visible.) The twenty mythrill spheres had been extracted from whoever had owned them and been passed onto Adamant's gear. His black armour had gained a great deal of spikes and gold highlights, and his sword had, if possible, grown even more awesome. Any consumables that applied buffs had been consumed. All skills that he might conceivably use against Heathcliff had been maxed out. His inventory had even been cleared of non-essential items to boost his speed by under 2% (The 'over-encumbered' system was actually realistic.) There was no way he could be any less prepared. It didn't make him worry any less. **_If there is no way worrying can increase your performance, then all it is doing is decreasing your preparedness. It is a glaring flaw in your species' evolution. We have books on the subject._** _The more you say, the more questions I have… but I'm pretty sure in the ancestral environment, the ones who ran away lived longer._ _ **Ominous, but running away is not an option. Let's go.**_

._.

Adamant turned towards his guild, suddenly overcome with emotion. "Guys… if something happens-"

Instantly, Jade walked up, deciding the best way to shut him up was to kiss him. "Nothing's going to happen except Kayaba getting what he deserves. If something does… well I'd rather celebrate with you in the real world than hunt your arse through the afterlife."

Adamant laughed at that. "Well, at least I have the repercussions set straight. Hey… since we're about to leave… can I finally get your real name?"  
She smiled. "To think I'm not on a first name basis with you, of all people. It's Melissa. Melissa Kently."

Adamant smiled back. "Nice to meet you Melissa. I'm James, James Johnson. Now shall I go kill a psychopath genius for you?"

"It'd be nice, yeah."

With that, he walked up to the doors, and pushed them open.

He went in, and looked around. There wasn't much to see. It was a five metre wide cylindrical stone room, a pillar in the centre stretching up to the roof. "Hey guys? Did we get the wrong address, or-" The moment he touched the pillar, the doors slammed shut behind him, and he spun around, sword drawn in the pitch blackness. Suddenly, cracks appeared in the roof, light filtering through them, before the entire thing shattered into blue polygons, momentarily blinding him with the bright light filtering down from the midday sun. Then, the door began to move downwards… no, he began to move up. The room revealed itself to be a lift as it slid up the central pillar and towards the sky. Looking down, he could see the crowd below staring up at him. The last thing he heard was Ben shouting "REALLY WITH THE RELIGIOUS IMAGERY KAYABA?!" Before he was swallowed by the clouds.

._.

Adamant looked around in the… odd environment he found himself in. The midday sun was directly above him, yet it seemed close, like he could touch it if he rose much higher. The floor, which he tested very tentatively before stepping off the stone platform, was translucent, just visible enough to retain proper balance, but the entirety of Aincrad was visible below him.

"Lovely view, isn't it?"

He heard the voice, recognised it, and resisted the surge of anger. "Yeah. Makes you feel like a god. But I suppose that was your intention, wasn't it?"

He looked up, and there, resplendent in red armour, was his foe.

"Greetings Adamant, James."

"It's been a long time, Heathcliff, Kayaba."

The game master of Sword Art Online chuckled, his hands resting on the shield in front of him. "And while you believe the two names describe one, I understand the truth…he has been very forthcoming."

Adamant positively snarled. "I don't know what you're on about, but I know that shield. Why have you taken Gorgamith's prize possession, grave robber?"

Heathcliff raised an eyebrow. "Everything in this game was built by me. Your friend borrowed it, for a while, and when the time came, I reclaimed it."

"You little!-" **_Be calm, James. He does this only to unbalance you- What!_** The exclamation came, because, rather than in Adamant's head, the noise emanated from the air.

Heathcliff began to laugh again. "The Nerve Gear connects with your brain, James. This area of my world has been coded specifically to bring out the extra-terrestrial inside it." Adamant's grip on his sword tightened. "Kayaba. What is going on?"

"Of course, I promised to answer your question back on floor seventy five, didn't I? But first I have one for you. I assume you have heard that voice before? What do you call it?"

 ** _He names me_** **Tim.**

Heathcliff laughed again. "Of course. A child nailing down anchors of mediocrity to help him comprehend the extraordinary being inside him. Allow me to start unearthing those anchors, James. _Tim,_ as you call him, has been influencing you since you entered this game, since you were born. The name you chose upon entering my world is even a pseudonym for his, as is mine. While I was gifted by the universe to be the vessel for _Heat Strikes Ethereal Cliffs-"_

There was an intake of breath from Adamant and Tim muttered. **_So it is you…_**

 ** _"_** You carry within your mind a being known as _Adamant Holds Darkness Constrained."_ He snapped his fingers. "Allow me to help you visualise the problem."

Suddenly, a figure materialised beside him. It was tall, vaguely humanoid, but looked almost holographic, yellow light pulsing from within a black outline. James looked across towards Kayaba and saw a similar being beside him, and all he could think to say was "It copies my colour palette?"

Kayaba shrugged. "An artistic design choice on my point, yes."

James took a breath in, and said in a small voice. "Why do I have an alien in my head?"

Kayaba sighed. "I suppose I will have to start from the beginning. Heat, could you explain?" The alien beside him nodded, and spoke with a low, gravelly voice. " **Our species is generally named as my host said, for example, 'Bornstellar makes eternal lasting'. We hit our prime thousands of years ago, when humanity had just been born. Myself and Adamant… knew each other."**

Tim, or 'Adamant guards against the darkness', interrupted. " ** _We were politically opposed on almost every debate that took place."_**

 **"** **To the point where we polarised them, yes. For example, when a calamity began to annihilate both our race and humanity, I wished to destroy the humans, believed that they were responsible, which they were-"**

 **"** ** _From a certain point of view"_** Adamant cut in. " ** _I believed we should ally with them."_**

 ** _"_** **And so,"** Heat continued smoothly. " **Our inaction caused the destruction of our race, while either course would have resulted in at least partial success. And so I accessed a machine that I had been experimenting with in an attempt to develop an improved gaeis."**

"A what now?" James cut in.

" **A gaeis." Tim** supplied. " **Was a set of memories from one of us that is passed through generations of humans. Heat developed a machine that passed the gaeis to those with specified emotional traits, rather than hereditary ones, and allows memories of previous hosts to be transmitted to new ones. My original body was destroyed long ago. I am a gaeis. And you are, as a previous host put it, a goldilocks. A perfect emotional mind set to receive me.**

James let out a long whistle. "Well, my dad always said I probably had special needs, but I think he was considering about ten orders of magnitude less than… this."

He looked back at Kayaba. "I hope you're not just doing this so I'll forget to beat you up."

The game master chuckled. "No. I must admit, I thought your gaeis would be more forthcoming. We are just new pieces in a game that has been going on for centuries. So, let us get to it." He hefted his shield and drew his blade from his belt. "Should you win, everyone in Aincrad is released. Should I win, you die, and another must take your place. I'm sure they will. After all, you naturally gravitated towards those who also possess gaeis'. All five in your guild, as a matter of fact."

James sighed. "Okay, I'm confused. Recap please?"

"An alien species existed long before we were born. They went extinct. Before they did, they developed a machine that places the memories of certain aliens into certain humans every generation. You received one. I received one. Mine taught me how to develop the Nerve gear, allowing us to visualise them as holograms in this world. Mine really hates yours."

Adamant nodded. "And because of it, you killed my friend. This isn't about your alien, it's about revenge. I accept your challenge, Kayaba."

His opponent nodded, entered his inventory, causing the two holograms to vanish, and pressed a really big button.

._.

Across Aincrad, every player left alive received a pop up in front of them.

A PLAYER IS CHALLENGING THE FINAL BOSS.

CLICK THE BLUE SPHERE TO SPECTATE.

At the bottom of the spire, where they had been waiting for several minutes now, the Adamant guard looked at each other seriously. Except Bulltrue. "Oh come on!" He cried. "It hasn't started yet? I thought it was almost over!"

._.

In the sky above, the pale, bright sun split into a twilight sun and a moon, both of which moved to just touching the east and west horizons, perfectly aligned with the sides of the arena, and rainbows criss-crossed the sky between them. Stands rose from the ground around the edges of the arena, each seat a throne, and gradually began to fill as more and more players accepted the invites. James raised an eyebrow at Kayaba. "You had way too much free time on your hands to design this."

Kayaba shrugged. "I had to wait almost a year for you to reach me here, James. Spying on everyone can only occupy so much of my time."

"Quit with the 'James'. Whatever alien crud is going on, this place has changed me, and I don't think that name can contain what I've become." He levelled his sword. "If we're going to do this, we're going to do it as Adamant and Heathcliff."

As the two squared off, Heathcliff smiled. "Just as I intended."

A gong sounded. And the final battle began.

 **I am preparing a 'WTF?' comment counter after this escalated from normal to** ** _Oh Crud Alien-minati._** **Whatever, reviews are fun. See y'all!**


	41. aaight listen up scrubs

So lemme get this straight. As much as I wish this insanely long wait was to build suspense, that only works when I give you a definite date to wait for. And I haven't. This is because some VIT (very important twit) decided that these pre Christmas exams should **_contribute to my GCSEs._** Meaning I'm lucky to have 10 minutes at lunchtime to post this. so let me get this sorted for you. you will get the final battle chapter at the evening of the last Friday of school. THIS IS DEFINITE. until then, I'm too bogged down with frikkin revision to write jack all that's good. Especially when my Music makers are confiscated to ensure I concentrate. (do parents know what nightcore does to the brain?)

so yeah, be patient. You are important. My GCSE's are importanter.

See y'all in about 11 days!


	42. Chapter 39: Duel of fates

**Did i not promise i would deliver?**

Chapter 39: Duel of fates.

Adamant's eyes went icy blue and he activated his _iron field_ skill, allowing himself to consider just how stupid and ignorant everyone was, blocking all abilities from being used. He charged forwards, stabbing straight at his foe's chest. Heathcliff simply raised his towering shield and bore the brunt of the assault. His smaller blade darted out like a viper, making Adamant dash backwards and widen the gap between them. Inside his head, Tim did what Tim did best.

 ** _Effective probe. 0.1% health reduction- and it's regenerated. It will take several direct hits to critical areas to bring him down._**

 _What about Wyverns tooth?_

 ** _Releasing Iron field will allow him to use Holy blade, boosting his defence and attack. I don't possess enough data to conclude how well it will counter your own unique skill._** _Almost forgot about that… well, you know how it works. If we start it, we start it on our terms._

He re-engaged, swiping high, low, and then jumping above his opponent, bringing his blade down to Heathcliff's head. His foe's smaller blade came up with unsurprising strength, they clashed, and Adamant was forced off, flipping to behind Heathcliff's back and striking again, but the tank spun with surprising agility and blocked the blow.

 ** _Analysis complete. He possesses more skill points than you._** _Don't I have the highest possible?_ _ **He**_ **is** ** _an administrator._** _Right. I'm gonna be ticked off if he goes invincible at half health again…_

He slid sideways and struck again, attempting to get around the shield, but his foe continued to outmanoeuvre him. **_Also, may I point out that the alien in his head will be providing similar levels of Intel._** _Noted. Let me know if he's about to-_ _ **Block left!**_

Heathcliff swiped, and Adamant barely had time to block it. _How did you-_ _ **I've fought him dozens of time throughout history.**_ _Did you win?_ _ **…Be silent and strike high.**_

He did, and interrupted another attack, before stepping up the pace. He moved up to his maximum attack rate, darting around his opponent and hitting him from every side. Heathcliff, however, was agile enough to get his shield between himself and the slashing WyrmEdge. The knowledge Tim gave Adamant allowed him to constantly predict Heathcliff's moves, and his own analysis of his foes technique allowed him to build on that knowledge. But, as Tim predicted, Heathcliff achieved an increased understanding of _his_ technique, predicting where he was about to strike before he struck there. Soon he was having an advanced prediction contest, attack the expected way, or do something different? Or attack the expected way because Heathcliff would _think_ he would do something different? Whatever he chose, he never managed to score more than a glancing blow.

._.

In the stands, Jade was, well, standing. Adrenaline was pushing her avatar to sporadic twitches as she stared at the clash. Action movies didn't look this intense and they were _choreographed._ One moment the pair locked blades, and she focused on Adamant's face. It seemed… different, slightly different to the face she had first glimpsed, while afraid and slightly enamoured, down an alleyway on floor one. Yet she couldn't tell what had changed.

._.

Breathing evenly, safely ignoring the pain in his chest, Adamant checked his health in his peripheral vision. He found it lacking.

 _We're losing._

 ** _Noted. I suggest a change in strategy._**

 _I'll need an opening._

 ** _Block this next strike on the inside, and you may have one._**

He complied; closing further than he ordinarily would have dared, and noticed the opening he wasn't _quite_ fast enough to capitalise upon. Yet. Thinking back to his first kiss, back there on the cliff face, he felt his eyes begin to glow gold-

In the corner of Heathcliff's vision, a small note popped up stating that his sword skills were now unlocked-

And Adamant's blade stabbed through the opening, drawing a deep line of golden flame along his foe's side. Heathcliff blanched and brought his shield up, but Adamant launched a flurry of attacks powerful enough to send him skidding along the misty floor. The advantage didn't last long however. As Adamant pressed the attack, his blade met a shield glowing with purple energy, and his attacks were completely rebuffed, before being forced to hold his sword against a powerful swipe that sent him back a few steps.

 ** _His_** **Holy Blade** ** _is up._**

 _Lovely. Let's see if I made it easier or harder for myself._

._.

Serena had deliberately chosen a seat separate from all the other spectators, partially in respect for the person who _should_ be sitting next to her, and partially because her constant clicking would drive anyone nearby insane. It still wasn't enough though, between each little map of the world sent back by her clicks, a lot would happen in a fast match like this one. She imagined it was like watching a movie with _terrible_ frames-per-second. Yet every scene of Adamant's face confused her. It was technically the same face he had always used when reassuring her, or sharing a joke, but recently… something had changed. What was it?

. _.

 _Tim?_

 ** _Yes?_**

 _We're losing, aren't we._

 ** _Your HP decline does appear to be mildly quicker than his._**

 _What do we do? If I could fight harder I would, but-_

 ** _Maybe the difficulty is mental, not physical. Remember,_** **a man will always succeed if he knows both his enemy and himself.**

 _You know that quote?_

 ** _I worked with the one who wrote it._**

 _Well I know myself just fine, but Heathcliff, well, can you help?_

 ** _The one inhabiting him I know all too well, but each host is slightly different. You probably know him better than I._**

 _Which isn't well enough. Whelp, only one thing for it._

"Heathcliff!" He called out, darting away to begin to circle his opponent. "Why? Why did you do this? I doubt you would just drop everything to obey a voice in your head."

His foe chuckled. "Is it not obvious? If there is a god then it is a cruel one who allows its children to go about so rashly, and the various forms of ruler ship we attempt to enforce upon ourselves do no better. We are our own worst enemy, and I believed that I could do better than the self-destructive 'leaders.' I always test my beliefs."

Adamant raised an eyebrow. "Aside from the obvious hypocrisy there, do you really believe that humans don't have the right to govern themselves? That it's up to some alien to trap us in a death game, to, what, test us?"

Heathcliff smiled. "Now you understand."

"No." Adamant growled. "that statement's as alien to me as whatever is in my head. You may believe that humans are barely above animals, but I happen to like some of them, and you're not taking away what they deserve!" With that, he closed in.

Tim noticed a sudden increase in the apparent power boost of Wyvern's tooth, but neglected to mention it as Adamant darted forwards, stabbing straight at Heathcliff's shield. Instead of just bouncing off, however, cracks appeared in the smooth surface of the towering defence, and Heathcliff was hurled backwards into the edge of the arena, right below where Jade and the guild sat. He staggered to his feet as Adamant marched forwards, glowing like a phoenix with an aura that completely dispelled the fog crawling about his feet. And then Heathcliff laughed. "I hate to sound too cliché, but I think it's appropriate to use the term 'this isn't even my final form'."

Adamant's golden eyes widened as he charged forwards, but Heathcliff slammed his shield to the floor, a purple glow suffused Adamant's blade, and he was barely able to keep hold of the hilt as it suddenly seemed to weigh more by several orders of magnitude. The blade tip swayed dangerously close to the floor.

Heathcliff began chuckling again. "This is a little something I programmed in, a nasty debuff that combines the weight of your sword with the weight of every surviving player in the game. I should mention that the moment you drop it, every one of them dies. This is what you sign up for when you carry everyone's prayers upon your shoulders. A heavy burden, hmm?"

Adamant grimaced, wanting to shift his hands to a better position but not daring to loosen his grip. Not using too much effort, Heathcliff brought his own blade towards Adamant's head. Snarling with the superhuman effort of holding the thing, never mind lifting it, Adamant brought the shaking blade between him and Heathcliff, who tapped it with his own blade, smiling bemusedly. "You appear to be struggling, Adamant. I suppose I could lighten the load of course. Kill a few of them. You'll find that one or two make little difference when dealing with so many, but who knows? If I slay your whole guild, you may be able to fight off a floor one trash monster."

._.

Bulltrue tried to move, But couldn't. That was sad. He looked to Adamant, with a really heavy sword, and saw the face that he used when he was in pain. So why was there a niggling thought that it was different?

._.

As Heathcliff turned to Jade, blade pointed at her throat, Adamant did the one thing he still could. He thought hard.

 _If I just wait, he starts killing people._

 ** _If you use iron field, it may lift the weight upon your weapon, but you're not in a position that allows you to counter him if, when, he notices and attacks you. Not without more speed._**

 _Great. Stick with Wyvern's Tooth, need Iron Field. Switch to Iron field, need Wyvern's Tooth. So much for 'knowing myself and my enemy' making me win._

 ** _…_** ** _Are you sure you do?_**

That one statement was enough to almost stun Adamant into dropping the sword.

 _What?_

 ** _James, Adamant, I am not responsible for every negative emotion you feel. Your cynicism would be present even if I never appeared, and it is not some sort of disease to be cured. Refusing to accept negativity as an acceptable answer has blinded you and limited your responses to problems. You do not truly_** **KNOW YOURSELF!**

Adamant immediately shut up the part of him that wanted to sit gaping at that for a while and thought. It was true. People could be so annoyingly stupid, he was guilty of it himself, but it's not exactly hero material to think that, is it? At least, that had been his argument. But he couldn't try to fit himself into the pure incorruptible paragon of light role, because he _didn't_ fit it. Yet even knowing that, accepting those faults in himself and those he fought for, he still fought for them. Why?

A conversation popped up in his mind, one that had occurred in his last fight with Kirito, but now he actually understood it. it was about that memory of his kiss.

 _-But it was_ a strategic miscalculation _-why can't you_ see that it was enjoyable? _-why can't_ you see that it was a pointless urge brought about by a desire to breed- _don't you_ get it? We know that, but it was still a good thing! _-must you be_ so determined to push me onto accepting this? _-just that_ even though it was brought about by petty needs it was still a positive factor? _—Acceptable.-_

Adamant didn't think it was an argument between two people, just two conflicting ideals that built his personality. They weren't conflicting anymore, and as he held the ice and fire inside himself, Adamant knew what he had to do.

Heathcliff had just raised his sword to strike against Jade, who stared him in the eye with a pride she had built from the ashes of years of embarrassment in the real world, when a voice called from behind him. "You're mistaken, Heathcliff."

He turned to see Adamant's head bowed, yet his hands were clutching at the blade that was his friends' lifeline with renewed vigour. "I'm not here to carry the human race." He looked up, and while one eye was crystal clear with ice, the other burned with fervent flame. _"I'M HERE TO HELP THOSE BEAUTIFUL IDIOTS CARRY THEMSELVES!"_ The purple energy around his blade shattered, as did the Holy Blade power surrounding Heathcliff, but the fire remained, and, wielding Wyvern's Tooth and Iron field simultaneously, Adamant tore towards his adversary.

Heathcliff tried to raise his shield but Adamant was having none of it, cleaving with an upward slash he smashed the shield into blue shards and drove a knee into his face. Heathcliff staggered to his knees, and with a yell, Adamant spun his sword round at neck level, and swept Heathcliff's head from his body.

._.

It was at that moment that the Adamant Guard knew what had changed in their leader. He had grown up.

._.

Heathcliff's body shattered into shards, but they left behind a ghostly semblance that turned to look up at Adamant, who raised an eyebrow. "Do you have to die twice?" Heathcliff chuckled. "Oh no, you've more than done enough to warrant the release of this game's occupants, but I wanted to leave some last words before the manhunt for me begins in earnest IRL."

Adamant rolled his eyes. "Great, an unskippable cutscene."

"There is much you still have to learn about your gaeis, and I doubt you will be able to hear it without the nerve gear's assistance. There is much you still have to learn about the world, and many of the people you claim should carry themselves really ought to… trip up. And there is much you need to learn about me. For example, there is no logical reason here that I should allow myself to truly die."

There was a rumbling, and the collective eyes of the thousands of spectators turned to the translucent floor where they could see the castle of Aincrad collapsing beneath them. When they looked back up, Heathcliff's visage was fading. "Farewell Adamant." He said, still with that knowing smile. "I will be seeing you again soon." With that, he vanished, and Adamant saw his avatar disintegrating, felt a sensation he hadn't experienced in over three years.

And he woke up.


	43. Chapter 40: The awakening

Chapter 40: The awakening

Having not left the virtual world in three years, the kaleidoscope was far more disorienting than James remembered. Another effect of his prolonged play session was that feeling in his body came back slowly. The first to return to him was sound, and it was a sound that rated barely worse than suffering puppies and barely better than nails scraping on a chalkboard. "I don't feel the need to argue this with you." It was the voice of Mr Johnson. His father. Whoever he was talking to spoke up. "I'm honoured, don't get me wrong, but, this is your son!"

Smell came back, punctuated by the sterile scent of disinfectant that just screamed hospital, and then immediately after came taste, reminding James that he hadn't brushed his teeth in _three years._

"My son is hardly fit to inherit the family fortune, Ronald." Mr Johnson replied. "Yours, however, has shown a keen business sense and a knack for profit. He will do it well."

 _Ronald, Ronald… oh yeah, one of my father's useful associates. Makes sense he's trying to cut me out, huh... Tim? You there?_

As he pondered the sudden disappearance of his gaeis, James' touch came back, and experimental twitches revealed that everything had gone stiff as a board. Unsurprising really.

Ronald spoke up again. "But what are people going to think when it comes out that you've done this, I mean, the damage to your reputation when all those people still hoping and waiting realise-"

Mr Johnson cut in. "He has damaged my reputation plenty already, another blow will have little effect. Let us face the facts, Ronald, not only has he missed three years of secondary school education, he spent that time in a game focused on the bloody murder of both monsters and other people. Every week or so, another person dies with no apparent warning, and James was a child with no friends and low confidence. If he returns, what twisted creature will the game have made of him?"

In a blurry haze of light, James' eyesight returned, and he decided he wasn't staying silent any longer. In a voice croaky with years of misuse, he said. "This one."

Both adults leapt backwards crashing against technical equipment with the same shock as if a rock had started talking. "Wh-wh-wha-"

James grinned and sat up. "Don't act so afraid. Whatever I've been through, no-one wold want to hurt their father, as long as he was even a half decent one. Oh wait…"

While Ronald fainted, Mr Johnson spoke, always quick to regain his composure. "How are you back? They're supposed to die when they get back."

James sighed, shakily getting to his feet, brushing off the various drips and monitors with mild annoyance. "I know, it's just so _annoying_ that I'm alive, right? Heck these must have been the best few years of your life. Has the company gotten better?" Mr Johnson's eye twitched. "Didn't think so. They have been for me. Made friends, became popular, and I could always feel a reassuring emptiness where you weren't." _I'll give him a chance. One chance to actually care._ "Don't suppose you actually missed me?"

Mr Johnson knew exactly how significant the question was. But for an answer… "I… well I…"

At that moment, a nurse walked in. "Mr Johnson, I'm so sorry, the sensors went dark and that only happens when-Eek!"

James turned to her and smiled. "Hi. Expect to see just about everyone waking up about now. Are all Britain's SAO victims in this building?" She nodded mutely. "Great, you may want to have someone who can speak Japanese by the phone; all the players over there will be waking up, and you should probably establish communications. Wow, it'll be weird to see everyone for real, I mean-"

It was at that moment that James realised who he had been somehow forgetting and everything paled in comparison. He didn't go emergency mode, he didn't need to, he understood that this was a _priority._ He looked the nurse in the eye. "Listen. There's a player by the name of Ja- Melissa Kently, which room is she in?"

The nurse blanched. "I-I'm sorry, but we have to enforce patient confidentiality, and she may be unstable after waking-"

 _If I scare her, it might-ah screw it, this is important._ He pushed her against the wall and raised a fist. "This kind of unstable?" He asked, no longer smiling. "Room. Now."

After squeaking a little, she managed to mutter "37J. Yours is 39A, so she should be a two corridors down."

He removed the arm, not showing how weak he actually felt, and moved for the door. His father, watching in shock, had the presence of mid to ask "Who is she?"

Not stopping, James simply said, "Someone special." as he walked out the room.

._.

James grimaced as he walked down the corridor, he would be running but everything _ached._ The rooms he passed showed signs of people waking up, most of which he recognised as they were among the few he could actually talk to. Those with the presence of mind to try and look at their surroundings stared at him. Whispers of "Holy cow…" "How is he moving so soon?" and most of all "Thank you." Followed him through the hospital, but he was focused on one thing. The medical staff rushing about the place ignored him completely, as well as the people speaking loudly; their priorities were the ones who weren't yet. While comparatively few brits had played the game, they still far outnumbered the nurses scrambling frantically about. He passed a mirror on the way there, and was struck by his appearance. Pale, drawn, hair down past his elbows and eyes shrunken, but still glinting bright blue. No wonder the nurse had been scared. When he reached the corridor, he knew _her_ room just from the noise. "I don't care miss medic, if you don't tell me where he is _right now_ I'll take your patient confidentiality and ram it up your-"

"Jade!"

The voice stopped for a moment, before a blur of white and red went careening out the doorway and immediately zeroed in on him and enveloped him in a crushing hug. A few moments later she let go, only to go in for a kiss, ignoring the weak wolf whistles from the people in rooms nearby.

They separated for a moment, panting, before James gave a grin. "Wow. They really updated the graphics on this real life server, huh?"

She nodded. "Yeah. The zombie texture-pack's kinda weird though. You look like someone who, well, was dead for three years."  
"Yeah. Funny that."

After that, they couldn't help but burst into hysterics.

 **one epilogue chapter. every day. i'm ending this how i started it. Also, heres a christmas present, posting this is the last thing i'll do on christmas eve.**


	44. Chapter 41: Aftermath: Serena and Jade

**Me = late. Me = sorry.**

Aftermath: Serena and Gorgamith

 _One week later._

Atop a jagged line of sea cliffs somewhere along the British coast there lay a pair of gravestones. Crouched before them was a young girl, tracing the words engraved into them with her finger.

 _Josie North_

 _2009-2021_

 _A bright light extinguished before her time. May others shine as fiercely in her memory._

 _George North_

 _2007-2024_

 _He died as he lived. Protecting those he loved._

"Excuse me?" The girl's ears pricked up and she clicked her tongue on reflex, but her view of the world grew no more accurate. She turned round, and the person who sounded like a woman gasped. She saw a girl holding what she regularly insisted was a walking stick; the bowstring attached being merely decoration. It may as well be, as a blindfold covered her eyes. The woman stuttered for a moment. "You… you're Serena?"

Serena nodded, smiling sadly. "I didn't want to intrude before, but I knew him for a while, so…"

"Oh you didn't need to stay away. When I let you decide the words to go on my son's gravestone, it means you're more than welcome to his funeral…..You said he called himself Gorgamith, right?"

"Yeah. He dropped the 'North' though. He did tell me his real name, but always said that I should only use it when we both got out of that thing."

"He was always so stubborn."

"The good kind of stubborn….I guess that's what killed him."

"'Protecting those he loved'… that was you, right?"

Serena nodded, turning away to gaze towards the sea. "He never outright said it. But he was just…always there, y'know? He'd always be putting that shield of his between me and danger, and then he'd turn around and give me a smile that said he was gonna make everything alright… if that isn't love then I don't know what is. He…He said he was sorry about Josie."

Serena paused for a moment, before hearing a sound she knew too well. Crying. She turned round as (Mrs North?) said. "On the day that game launched, when Josie died, everything was in uproar. But George was still alive, and I couldn't help the nagging feeling that that was wrong. But now I've met you, I realise that you're the reason he survived that long. He needed something to protect. I'll never forgive that monster Kayaba, but I do forgive my son." The pair was silent then, simply looking out past the graves to the ocean, taking solace in each other's stories of a man who finally got to rest.

 **Me= Seeing y'all!**


	45. Chapter 42: Aftermath: Ben and Bulltrue

Chapter 42: Aftermath- Ben and Bulltrue

"Yeah?...You did?...Thanks, mom…yeah, ok, bye then, bye!" Ben clicked off the phone and sighed. Beside him, Bulltrue frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Well my mum said she'd cook me my favourite food the moment I got back from Britain."

"Uh…That's bad?"

"Well she means spaghetti bolognaise. I can't stand the stuff."

Bulltrue paused and thought for a good few seconds before snapping his fingers. "I know! Tell her that! She'll cook you something else!"

"…That's…not quite my point, big guy." The two wandered nearly aimlessly, stopping anywhere that caught their eye but heading towards Heathrow airport. The two had only come to the country to visit a VR convention, (the only reason they had gotten a chance to play SAO,) and still weren't used to the sights.

"My point." Ben continued. "Is that she doesn't get me anymore. Like, my favourite food used to be bolognaise, but that was three years ago."

"What is it now?"

"Pizza but that's not important. She doesn't get why I keep calling you Bulltrue," ("'Cos Bob is a stupid name!") "Why I suddenly despise every rat in existence, why twins give me the jitters, why…anything."

"Well it's because-"

"Yeah, you know, because you were there. But _she wasn't._ I spent three years in pretty much a different universe to my family, my old friends, the chicks I was hitting on… And those were my teenage years! The most important years of change in someone's life! Heck I have more in common with that French nun who spent the whole game trying to break an unbreakable dirt pile than I do with my own parents!"

"Wait, what was she doing in SAO? Or outside a nut house?"

"They did need to restrain her when she got up, look I DON'T KNOW NONE OF THIS CRUD MAKES SENSE!"

A few Londoners walking towards Ben quietly moved to the other side of the road.

He sighed again before looking up as Bulltrue put his hand on his shoulder. "Ben… I dunno much, but I know that your mom loves you, 'cos otherwise she wouldn't be trying to cook your favourite food. Mines pie, by the way."

"I know."

"So if she still loves you, then that just means she gets to get to know the new you. Right?"

Ben looked up at his friends face in mild confusion. "Did you just think?"

"Yup."

"I like the way you think."

"Yeah, I'm gonna stop now."

The two just stood in a companionable silence for a while.

"I feel like that should have been more dramatic."  
"Yeah."  
"You wanna get something to eat?"

"Sure."


	46. Chapter 43: Aftermath: Adamant and Jade

Chapter 43: Aftermath- Adamant and Jade.

 ** _Testing, testing, 123._**

 _Well, I can hear you._

 ** _Likewise. Success then._**

 _Except that I can't see a thing._

 ** _Did you flip the switch on the back of the helmet?_**

 _This thing doesn't have a, no, wait, got it._

Like a light switch, Adamant's sight returned, and with it came a view of red eyes staring down at him. He started, scrambling off his bed and onto the floor, the former then being claimed by his albino intruder. "What." She asked. "Are you doing wearing that thing again?" She pointed an accusing finger at the nerve gear sitting atop his head. He sighed. "I was experimenting, and before you ask, the SAO disc is out of the system. And burned. And at the bottom of a well. Which I also burned. Hey Tim, activate the speakers would you?"

 ** _Done, James._** Jade gasped, as a voice came from the helmet. "Is that-"

He nodded. "Yep. Tim, Jade, Jade, Tim. Or is it Melissa Kently, I still don't know what we're doing with the names. Anyway, apparently my gaeis can't just talk to its hosts, it needs some other medium, like this thing. I booted up the menu screen and he turned up to help me retrofit the thing. I can't exactly wear it in public, but it means I can stay in contact. Until they find Kayaba, I'm not resting easily."

Jade nodded. "D'you think we'll ever get away from this? From SAO?"

Adamant thought for a moment. "I don't think we'll ever forget it. Kinda hard to. And I don't think it'll ever stop affecting us. I mean, I bought a gym membership and I'm gonna use it, I feel so weak!"

She chuckled before beckoning him to continue.

"But If you're referring to the nightmares? The need to get up at six to start the literal daily grind when there's no reason to, and nothing to fight? The feeling of being adrift from everyone, like you're on a different level of awareness to everyone else?"  
He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts, and felt her hand give his shoulder a comforting squeeze. "I think they'll go. One way or another."

For a while, they just sat there. It was strange, Adamant thought, not having a grand quest hanging over their heads. That much freedom could be daunting. But… he spoke aloud. "The basic rule of life is to do whatever makes you happiest, right?" Jade nodded. A smile began to creep along Adamant's face. _Might as well do what I do best…_ "Hey Jade? Are there any cool games coming out soon?"

The End.

 **In case the two words above this didn't clue you in, that is the end of this story, and the single biggest project i've ever worked on. as is normal, i will probably be writing COMPLETE! in the subheading, and may go back to make corrections to previous chapters.**

 **sequels unconfirmed.**

 **Thanks to mother, for beta-ing this, and ICO, you critical son-of-a female dog. and to you, because if you're here, you've added at least two to the views (A.K.A ego stroke) count. feel free to review wat you liked or disliked, feel free to check out anything else i've done, and until next time, see y'all!**


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